Written in Blood
by Siebenschlaefer
Summary: The first war was won by Lord Voldemort. Harry, mercilessly used for his abilities by the rebels as a child, lives unnoticed as an assumed squib at Hogwarts. When an attack of the rebels endangers the Hogwarts students, his abilities are revealed, bringing him into the spotlight. With Dark Lords and Slytherins stalking him, and rebels trying to kidnap him, what should he do?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim anything in the Harry Potter universe as mine. Everything belongs to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. I merely want to play a little in this wonderful playground she built.

Inspired by "The Others" by Anne Bishop and the HP fanfic "Little Seer" by HuskyWalker.

Title inspired by the song 'Written in Blood' by Beyond the Black.

 **Warnings:** AU!, child abuse, violence and slash in the future. If this is not your cup of tea, there are thousands of other stories out there.

 **Summary:** The first war was won by Lord Voldemort. Harry, mercilessly used for his abilities by the rebels as a child, lives unnoticed as an assumed squib at Hogwarts. When an attack of the rebels strikes too close to his sanctuary, his abilities are revealed, bringing him into the spotlight. With Dark Lords and Slytherins stalking him, and rebels trying to kidnap him, what should he do?

 **AN:** So, another Plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone, therefore I simply had to start this story. My mind was too occupied to stay with "Letters to Everybody". The idea of what Harry is comes from "The Others", but I didn't copy it completely, merely took it and formed it into something fitting to what I want. I hope you like it and if not, I can't do anything, your loss.

I am grateful for questions, remarks, grammar and spelling correction messages, so review or PM me.

 **This is now beta'ed by the wonderful GeMerope, many thanks and hugs to her.**

Flames will be used to heat the oven.

 **Let's start the story.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Severus Snape, Potions Master and Professor at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, right hand of the Dark Lord, Marvolo Slytherin, walked through the ruined buildings of the rebel headquarters. Since Lord Slytherin, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Leader of Wizarding Great Britain, took over Hogwarts in 1982, Albus Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix were on the run, declared as rebels and enemies of the state.

Now, eight years later, Lord Slytherin's spy network had finally managed to locate the rebel base. He and his men wasted no time; they struck hard and fast. The battle had been short and bloody.

To his annoyance, Albus Dumbledore had proven himself to be slippery and had gotten away with most of his best fighters. Severus frowned, the old man had too much luck and was too secure in his own beliefs to see the good the reign of Lord Slytherin had brought to Wizarding Great Britain. He still recruited new people to undermine and fight the current government.

Severus stepped through a destroyed door, entering one of the bigger buildings. Something puzzled him. They knew that the rebels were not all adults. They knew Albus and his fighters trained children from their own families and every Muggle-born they could find. So why were there no children present?

So far, the buildings had been empty and they had not felt any apparition before Albus and Mad-Eye Moody had fled, as the last souls to abandon the base. Their spy had told them that this was not only the headquarters where most of the rebels lived, but also the school and training ground for the young ones.

Did Albus know they were coming? And if so, who told them? Everyone involved in this operation had been put under Veritaserum and Legilimency by the Dark Lord himself. There couldn't have been a leak.

Severus nodded to Lucius; his best friend, Minister of Magic and Lord Slytherin's left hand, who stepped into the building from another entrance at the other end of the hallway. They and the other most trusted followers of Lord Slytherin systematically searched through the base. Taking one of the stairs to the upper floor, Severus turned left and opened the doors at this floor one after another, only to discover empty rooms void of furniture, people, or any signs of life.

There was definitely something not right, and it irritated Severus.

At the end of the corridor, he found a door which had him stop in his tracks. It was locked and secured with heavy bolts. With a simple _Alohomora_ the locks were opened, and he pushed at the door carefully, revealing the room behind it. He held his wand in front of him, ready to strike at whatever was in the room, then nearly dropped it at the view in front of him.

The room was bare except a small cot on which a child sat cross-legged. It was dreadfully thin, unhealthy pale skin making the many scars littering the stick like arms stand out even more. The boy was only clad in a too-large t-shirt and shorts. Severus nearly gagged at the intense smell of blood filling the room and the fresh pool of red liquid in front of the cot. Messy, unwashed hair surrounded a pale face with hollow cheeks.

But it was the eyes of the child, who had steadily gazed at him since he opened the door, and the expression in them, that made Severus nearly drop to his knees. The sharp gaze from the almond-shaped eyes that were too big in the emaciated face, the colour of emeralds, burned into his own onyx ones. He remembered eyes like that, beautiful and full of life and laughter, before he made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. The eyes he remembered however, had never looked at him like this; haunted, dead and empty.

Severus was sure, the expression in those eyes would haunt him forever in his nightmares. No child should have eyes like that.

A small smile grazed the lips as the child blinked once.

"Are you here to kill me?" A simple question, spoken without fear, in a raspy quiet voice, barely above a whisper. Something akin to hope shimmered through those green eyes, then they closed and the child passed out.

A few seconds passed before Severus found the ability to move again. Then, he hurried to the small crumbled form, sending an emergency call in form of a Patronus to Poppy to prepare the hospital wing, and started casting stabilizing charms to transport the child to Hogwarts. One thought was at the forefront of his mind the whole time: What had happened here?

* * *

 **AN:** I know it is a small chapter but still thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.

First published: 16th of April 2018

Last edited: 22nd of May 2019


	2. A crossroad

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings)

 **AN:** So, here the first real chapter of this story. For this fic, most of the story is already planned out in my head. I don't mind suggestions, but I am can't guarantee that I will use them. I don't know if this will be a Harry/Draco or Harry/TMR story. We will see in a few chapters.

I hope you like it and if not, I can't do anything, your loss.

I am grateful for questions, remarks, grammar and spelling correction messages, so review or PM me.

 **A huge thank you to GeMerope for beta'ing**.

Flames will be used to heat the oven.

Have fun reading and please review.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A crossroad**

The sun rose slowly over the old castle of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with its many towers and windows. A small, lone figure walked over the snow-capped grounds from the Forbidden Forest to the castle, crossed the courtyard quickly, and slipped through the half-closed door, closing it behind them. Immediately, the harsh cold winter wind was blocked out, and a small sigh escaped Harry. Glancing around, he made his way to the dungeons, using every shortcut known to him on quiet feet, aware of every noise around him. It would not be good for him to be found in the hallways at this hour.

Before he reached the portrait, that guarded the door to Severus' and his quarters, he slowed to a normal pace, tried to flatten his hair, smoothed down his robes and took a deep breath. He whispered the password and slipped into the living room behind it. He took of his shoes and hung up his outer robes, then he tiptoed through the room to one of the doors at the other side.

"And what, young man, do you think you are doing?" A deep silky drawl froze Harry on the spot. "I really hope you just came back from a short morning walk around the grounds." Harry turned to face his guardian.

Severus sat on the settee, already wearing his teaching robes, a frown on his face.

"I… er… I…" Harry stuttered.

"Eloquent."

"I am sorry." Harry sighed. He knew he screwed up. Staying out of bed without a good reason, vanishing without a note for the whole night… If Severus found out why exactly he had gone to the Forest, he would be in for a lot of trouble. And Severus would find out, Harry really could not lie to his guardian – at all.

"And what, tell, are you sorry about?" Severus looked at him with a freezing glare.

"…"

"Excuse me, could you repeat that? Why were you not in bed? And where were you?" Severus asked in a controlled voice. Harry would have preferred yelling. He took a deep breath and looked everywhere but at his guardian.

"I am sorry that I sneaked out… and… went to the Forest." He glanced from under his fringe at Severus, who had gone pale and gritted his teeth.

"I really hope you don't mean the Forbidden Forest, but another forest, Mr. Potter, which is not forbidden and dangerous, which has no dark creatures living in there." Severus voice grew darker and quiet, in the end it was only a whisper, and Severus stared intently at him. Harry could only shake his head. He knew it had not been a good idea, but…

Severus looked at him for a long time without saying something.

"Harry, why were you in the Forbidden Forest?" He sounded resigned.

"Er… a Hippogriff youngling went missing… and it would have…" Harry gulped, "It would have gone into the Acromantula nest… and I couldn't… I went and found it before it even went in the direction of the nest… and brought it back to its parents." He peeked at Severus while explaining, who had gone pale, or paler, and then got a dark look in his eyes.

Inwardly sighing, Harry berated himself for being careless and getting caught. He fiddled nervously with his left forefinger and stopped abruptly as he saw Severus looking at his hands. He tried not to flinch and step back, as Severus got up, approached him and examined his finger.

"When?"

Harry looked away from him. "Three days ago, while preparing potion ingredients." He heard Severus sigh.

"You forgot your gloves?" Harry shook his head. "I had them on, but the Flobberworm mucus wouldn't come off and I had to remove them and put new ones on, but I forgot the left one and…" He did not continue.

"You should have told me." Now Severus sounded disappointed, which was worse than angry. Anger and disdain Harry knew how to handle. Disappointment meant someone cared enough to **have** expectations. After five years in Severus care, Harry still did not know how to handle it.

"But it was only a small…"

"Regardless, I am your guardian, you are my child, I wish to know when something, no matter how insignificant, happens to my ward. Especially concerning this. You know you often need someone to talk about it, to help you sort everything out. You know what can happen if you interpret something wrong." Harry was still not looking at him, but at the ground instead.

"And _everything_ could have happened in the forest. You know how dangerous it is in there! How could you have been so careless, do you not have any regard for your own life? And I assume that you didn't know in which specific night it would happen and went to the forest the last three nights, or did you?" A hand lifted his chin till green eyes met black ones. Seeing the confirmation, Severus stepped back, pushing down his anger at the carelessness of his charge.

"You are grounded, for this week and the next two. You stay in your room in our quarters when you are not helping me brew or prepare the classroom. No brewing alone, no library, bed-time at 10 p.m."

Harry's head snapped up, he looked shocked.

"I am sixteen, nearly an adult in the magical world! You can't…" He cried out, but one look from Severus silenced him.

"Yes, you are sixteen, but I am still your guardian, you are still my ward. Even if you were fifty I would still punish you after such a stunt." Then, a sly smile found its way on Severus face. "And did you forget that in the eyes of the law, a Squib is never fully recognized as a magical adult?"

Harry's eyes grew wide.

"You can't use this against me."

Severus crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked at him.

"Oh yes, I can and I will. I am your registered guardian and have authority over you till I die or a new guardian is assigned to you. **You** wanted to be registered as a squib. You know the law. As a Squib, you need my signature for everything; a job contract, a contract for renting a place to live. You need my approval for a marriage and even for every child you want to sire. I think I am well in my rights to ground you."

Harry knew he had lost and sighed. "Registered as a Squib was the better of the two possibilities."

Severus nodded. "Yes it was, but it doesn't mean I am above using my authority over you to keep you out of trouble."

"Is Draco allowed to visit?" Harry asked in a small voice, giving in. Severus looked at him thoughtfully.

"For an hour every day."

Harry nodded, grateful, and went to his room to change. He did not look forward to two weeks confined to his room, but then he should be grateful that it was only two weeks. In three weeks was Yule, that meant the yearly Yule ball and after that, most of the students would leave Hogwarts for the holidays. Harry loved the castle during the holidays normally, but not winter holidays. Like every year, it would not stay quiet.

At New Year's Eve, Lord Slytherin, his Lieutenants, his inner circle and most of the pure-blood high society would be in the castle, celebrating the Dark Lords birthday. During these days, Harry had to be very cautious whenever he left their quarters. His grey robes would out him as a Squib immediately, and as a Squib he was only one step higher than a Muggle. He had next to no rights, was scorned upon, and most of the Pure-bloods wanted to forget that Squibs even existed. Which suited Harry quite fine, he wanted to be forgotten and overlooked.

But a lot from the inner circle loved to taunt everyone beneath them, and sometimes they grew bored at the ball and searched for some entertainment. So, he tried to stay out of the way. As he was not even allowed somewhere near the Great Hall in general, it was not that hard.

Harry was not sure if, apart from Severus, Draco, Madam Pomfrey and Madam Pince, the other occupants of the castle even knew that he lived here. He ate in their quarters, Severus' private portions lab was directly next to it, and the student potions laboratory and classroom were only a few hallways away, near the staircases to the upper levels of the castle. He helped Severus prepare the classroom for the next classes, checked the potions in the student laboratory for the advanced classes, and the rest of the day he prepared ingredients and brewed in Severus' private lab. The only other room he frequently visited was the library; Madam Pince always had a small smile for him. He normally hid in the darkest corner, away from the students.

He was quite content with his life here at Hogwarts. He had a guardian who cared and a friend. The less people knew he was even here, the smaller the chance for the rebels to find him, and the less contact he had with people, the smaller the chance for someone to guess what the scars on his body meant. Severus knew, naturally, and Harry was sure Madam Pomfrey had a hunch. She had treated him when Severus had brought him to the castle years ago. He preferred it this way, it would be dangerous if people knew. He shuddered as he thought back to how the rebels and especially Dumbledore had used him for their cause. No, he would kill himself before he allowed someone to use him like this ever again.

As Harry changed his clothes, he mused. _Could_ he even kill himself? Would his magic allow it?

A knock on his door brought him back to where he was.

"Are you finished? Breakfast is on the table." Severus' voice was muffled through the heavy wooden door.

"I am coming." Pulling on a fresh grey robe, Harry opened his door and followed Severus to the living room, where an open kitchen was installed at the other side. Harry took his seat at the small round table and filled his cup with tea. After adding sugar and milk to it, he took a gulp, sighed, and leaned back in his chair, cradling his teacup.

He heard Severus chuckle and opened his eyes, which he had closed in bliss while drinking his tea, to glare at him. His guarding took a sip from his own cup – coffee, not tea - and gave him an amused look.

This was how it was every time Harry had done something wrong so far. Severus talked with him, gave out the punishment and that was it. No grudge, no sour mood. The punishment was given out, Harry accepted and whatever Harry had done was forgiven.

"After breakfast, we have to prepare the classroom for the second-year double potion class," Severus said with disdain. Harry chuckled. It was always the same, Severus hated to teach the younger years, all the dunderheads who had no real passion or talent for potions.

After breakfast, they prepared the potions classroom for the second-years. The students would attempt to brew the sleeping draught, so Harry got the ingredients from the potion cupboard and laid them out for the students. Severus hated it when the younger years went through the potion cupboard themselves. Then, he wrote the instructions on the blackboard, checked if all the workplaces were clean and if enough empty potion vials were present. He could not check if the extraction charms to remove harmful and poisonous fumes were still in place, as he had no wand, or magic usable through a wand in the first place. After one last look through the classroom, he opened the adjoined door to Severus' office.

"I am finished Severus, you only have to check the extraction charms."

Severus looked up from the parchments with homework, which he was grading at the moment.

"Alright. Please check the potion for the sixth-years advanced class. They are attempting to brew Polyjuice-potion and have, hopefully, completed the first step. And then, back to your room, your grounding starts today."

Harry groaned, but did not object. In the student lab the portions of the sixth-years all looked - some more, some less - like they should, so he had nothing to do there. Sighing, he went to his room, slipped out of his robes and flopped onto his bed.

This would be two and a half really boring weeks. Closing his eyes, and having nothing better to do, Harry decided to take a nap, catching up on sleep he had lost due to his three nights spent in the Forest.

* * *

Harry was rudely woken up a few hours later by someone who opened his door with too much force, banging it against the wall.

"Hey Scarhead. What did you do that Severus grounded you for two weeks?" a voice drawled, entirely to cheerful in Harry's opinion. He sat up and blinked at his friend.

"Draco, couldn't you wake me up without nearly killing me with a heart attack?" Harry glared at him half-heartedly. His tall, platinum-blond friend only smiled, grey eyes looking mischievously at him.

"Ah come one, be happy that Severus allowed me to spend my lunch hour with you. Up with you, I am hungry." Draco took Harry's arm and dragged him from the bed to the kitchen. Every time Draco dragged him along like this, which happened a few times a week, Harry cursed his short, thin form. With his 5 foot 2 he looked like a child next to Draco's 5 foot 11. And where Draco was slender with some well-defined muscles due to playing Quidditch, Harry was skinny and petite. He tried to free his hands, but Draco only laughed at him.

"If you don't behave, I will carry your petite ass wherever I want to, you know I can and will. I am hungry, and you definitely need more on your ribs."

"Hey, I am not petite, you are unnaturally tall, and I don't know if growing like a weed is all that good," Harry cried out. And living in a cupboard for a few years and then in a small dark room, where they cut you open to have access to your ability, was definitely detrimental to growing tall, Harry mentally added.

On the kitchen table, lunch was already set. Harry tiredly rubbed his eyes, took a gulp from his goblet filled with water and started eating. Meanwhile, Draco talked about his day in between taking small bites.

"I love my subjects for sixth year. I am still not sure what I should think about magical theory, but Severus told me I needed to take it if I ever want to invent my own spells. Dark Arts is really a fascinating subject and Professor Black is fantastic. It is a shame I couldn't take healing, but as you know, you are tested at the beginning of sixth year if your core is dark, grey or light. Mine was obviously dark, so I couldn't use a healing spell if my life depended on it. Mother has it better, she is grey, so she can use both Dark Arts **and** healing spells. Daphne was really surprised to have a light magical core, but it fits her personality and she loves the healing classes. You should have seen Blaise during his core testing…." Draco stopped as he realized what he was talking about and looked apologetically at Harry, who simply shrugged, so Draco let the subject slide.

"Mother tried to convince me not to take so many classes and yes, the workload is immense, but they are all so interesting. My favourite I think is Blood Magic."

Here Harry paled a little, thankfully Draco was not looking at him at the moment.

"It is really hard to learn and control, but it can be more powerful than even the darkest curses. So far, we only learned to feel our magic in the blood and how to prevent that someone uses our blood and the magic in it against us. Which is extremely difficult, once it is outside of your body. You can also heal with it, did you know? But it is very dangerous, because you could link yourself with the person you are using your blood for. It is a really small class, because you need healing or Dark Arts to even select the Blood Magic course, and since beginning of the school term, five already quit…"

Harry did not listen to Draco anymore. Yes, it was interesting, but it did not concern him… or truthfully, it concerned him too much. He did not want to think about it. It was not like he had control over his ability. Thank Merlin, Draco had never seen his scars. Harry was not sure what they taught in the Blood Magic classes, but he was sure Draco would understand the significance.

A cuff on the back of his head brought him out of his musing. He looked offended at Draco.

"Scarhead, why are you not hanging onto every word I am saying?"

Harry only stuck his tongue out to him.

"So, what did you do to be grounded," Draco inquired again.

"Took a midnight walk into the Forbidden Forest," Harry mumbled. He knew better than to lie to Draco. He, like Severus, always knew when Harry lied to him.

"And what did you do there? Had a midnight date? I could talk to Blaise to show you all the good snogging hideouts in the castle." Harry blushed at the suggestion.

"No, no date."

"Then what?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."

Draco looked at him enquiringly. But as Harry refused to say more, he let it slide. He knew Harry was hiding something and he knew it had something to do with what had happened before Harry came to Hogwarts.

Harry never talked about it, never reacted to Draco's prompting. But even so, Draco noticed some odd things about his friend. He never talked about his childhood, or where Severus had found him, or why he always wore gloves. Even now, Harry wore skin-coloured, skin-tight gloves. Draco had only once seen him without his gloves and had notice the many different scars on his hands. And Harry was always wearing long sleeved tops with a high collar under his also high-collared grey robes.

For Draco it was not important what these grey robes symbolised, not anymore. But he knew, that most of the magical society of Great Britain did not look kindly at Squibs. They were the reminder of their past failures and the symbol that their pure-blood beliefs only led to the disaster they now had to work hard to prevent.

It had been Lord Slytherin who showed them evidence that the inbreeding between the pure-blood families led to smaller numbers of children born in each generation, to the birth of magically weak children, and more and more squibs.

Lord Slytherin had already changed so much, compared to one generation ago. Squibs were not thrown out of the magical world anymore, and the Muggle-borns were brought in earlier. No magical blood would be lost anymore.

But the Pure-bloods changed very slowly, they still married into Pure-blood families if the family tree showed that the last crossing of the families was at least five generations past. Marriages with Half-bloods, especially the ones with one half of blood from old Pure-blood families, were highly pursued.

The Muggle-borns were only begrudgingly welcomed into the magical society and harshly judged on their will to integrate and uphold the old traditions, and their magical ability.

The Squibs were the forgotten ones, the ones nobody wanted to talk or even think about. Only a small number of people believed that Squibs still held the magic of their bloodlines. They could not utilize their magic, but all the testing showed they still **had** a magical core, as weak as it may be.

But nobody wanted to test if the magic of the bloodlines could be awoken again. The knowledge that Muggle-borns were descended from Squibs marrying Muggles, which led to the magical ability unexpectedly resurfacing after many generations, were shoved aside and happily overlooked.

As the Squibs themselves held no usable magic, they couldn't protect themselves. They – not the Muggle-borns – were the symbol of the faulty Pure-blood beliefs. The Muggle-borns at least had their magic, a lot of them were even more powerful than most of the heavily inbreeded Pure-blood lines.

And a powerful magical ability was the single most important thing to have, more important than the purity of the blood, even if the Pure-bloods did not admit it aloud.

The winners of these fights between purity of blood, old traditions and beliefs on the one side, and new, not welcome, knowledge of the benefits of fresh blood and magic on the other side, were the Half-bloods. The mixture of old magical blood with new resurfaced magical bloodlines led to very powerful wizards and witches.

But Harry, technically a Half-blood, had been tested at the Ministry after Severus had found him. His magical core was too small, too erratic, to utilize it, marking him as a Squib, the bottom of society.

At the beginning, before they had become friends, Draco had taunted him, then pitied him. But it did not look as if Harry seemed to mind being a Squib. Even when the students insulted and bullied him. He simply ignored them, showing more grace and backbone than most of the students. Draco admired him for this.

He tried to lighten the mood and change the subject.

"You know, Astoria still follows me like a puppy," he sighed. Draco's parents had been horrified when they had learned about the outcomes of inbreeding. They had instantly checked the family lineage of the Greengrass family, since Draco and Astoria were betrothed since childhood. Both families had agreed to break the betrothal when the family lineage showed crossing three generations ago.

His father had then given in to his mother, and now Draco was allowed to search for a spouse himself, within some conditions. It should be at least a Half-blood, or an exceptional powerful Muggle-born, and he had to be betrothed before his twenty-fifth birthday.

"I think she still hopes to convince me to marry her. I am happy that my parents broke off the engagement, she is so… dull. And boring. I really want a spouse I can converse with, who gives input… when I think about it, I also like this in my friends." Here, he looked at Harry, who had not spoken much the whole time. Harry only laughed.

"Why should I interrupt you, only to get reprimanded for interrupting. You are brilliantly carrying this conversation on your own." He smirked at Draco, who frowned at him.

"You are impossible. If I want someone to listen to me all the time without giving his own opinion I would go to Astoria, Vince or Greg. Do you think I love to hear myself talk?"

The instant Harry broke into fits of laughter, he knew he had said the wrong thing, or perhaps the right one, as the brooding mood Harry had been in was lifted.

"Oh yes, I definitely think you love to hear yourself talk," Harry said in between fits of laughter. Draco grinned at him and cuffed him lightly again.

They finished their lunch with playful banter.

* * *

Two and a half weeks later, Harry walked happily over the snow-covered grounds to the lake. Yesterday had been the last day of his grounding. Taking deep breaths of the cold clear December air, Harry looked over the frozen lake.

It was Monday morning, tomorrow was Christmas and all the students were in the first classes of the day in the moment. Severus was grading homework in his office as there were no potions classes in the first two periods of the day.

So, Harry had taken the opportunity to leave the castle for the first time since he had been grounded. The snow crunched beneath his feet and his breath gathered in misty clouds in front of his face. It was quiet at the shore of the great lake and Harry loved it.

When he heard voices coming down from the castle, he knew the first period was over. He made his way back, carefully avoiding the students walking to the greenhouses or the stables, where the classes of Care of Magical Creatures took place, and entered the old stone building.

He hurried in the direction of the dungeons, but the entrance hall was filled with students coming and going to classes. He really hoped nobody noticed him. As he reached the top of the staircase leading downstairs, a voice stopped him in in his steps.

"Ah, look who found his way out of the dark dungeons! Or should I say what? Did the greasy git let his pet outside?" Zacharias Smith, a seventh-year Hufflepuff, sneered at him mockingly. Harry only spared him a brief glance before he tried to enter the dungeons again. He had heard all the names and taunts already, especially from Smith, nothing new there. But Smith would not let him and shoved him.

"Don't ignore me, _Squib!_ Perhaps I should teach you a lesson, how to respect your betters."

When Harry did not even look at him, Smith pushed him again, hard enough that Harry collided with the hard stone wall. He felt the right side of his face scrape against the stones and realised, with a heavy feeling, what would happen next.

Picking himself from the wall, Harry raised a hand and felt around his right brow. His fingers came back bloody.

Shoving Smith aside, Harry ran down the stairs to the dungeons, not even hearing what Smith called after him. Severus should still be in his office. Please let him be in his office, Harry thought frantically.

He already felt the tell-tale signs of a vision. The small cut somewhere over his right brow started hurting, far worse than it should. Then the pain began to spread, like a burning under his skin, over his whole face, down his neck, his torso and arms, till his whole body was in pain.

He reached Severus office door and stumbled inside, his knees giving out under him.

"What…?"

Harry lifted his head and looked at Severus, who sat behind his desk, surprised by the sudden intrusion.

Then, he saw the blood on Harry's face and the pain-filled green eyes which tried to focus on him. Severus picked him up and placed him on the small settee at one of the walls in his office. He closed and locked his office door with a flick of his wand.

Then, he kneeled beside the settee and waited. He knew he could do nothing for Harry, but his gaze never left Harry's face, even as Harry's eyes first rolled back and then went void of the white and green, becoming completely black and staring unseeingly at the ceiling.

Harry's world was entirely made of intense, all-consuming pain. It felt like white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, like all his bones were shattering and his blood boiling. Tongues of blazing hot fire swirled under his skin. He felt like he was being scorched alive.

In one small part of his brain, which did not consist entirely of pain, he knew he had a choice, like always. He could succumb to the pain and fall into unconsciousness, losing the vision, or he could ride the waves of intense pain, letting them wash over him, holding out. As always, he held out, waiting, gritting his teeth, staring into Severus' concerned black eyes, using them to anchor himself. Not even once did he scream his pain out for the world to hear.

Then he felt it, the crescendo of the pain and his magic, which had followed the first drop of blood and had started gathering around him. His magic reached across the veil to plunge into the river of time. As the vision sent to him across the veil from the connection of magic and spilled blood, crashed into him, everything else ceased to exist.

 _He floated over a two-storey house, with a perfectly mowed lawn. He knew this house and the occupants very well. He had lived here for nearly five years of his life… he saw his Uncle leave the house… his Aunt closing the door behind his Uncle… he flew through the closed door… past the cupboard which had been his bedroom all those years ago… upstairs into Dudley's room… his cousin was older, much older than Harry now and had grown… not only in height… he was roughly the size of a baby whale… his breath uneven… and as Harry was thrown from the house he saw him clutch his chest…_

… _darkness around him…_

… _then he stood at a crossroad, in between grey mist… which whirled around him… the end of the road at his left opened… Harry saw himself, standing with a sharp bloody knife in the Great Hall… blood dripping from the knife and a wound on his stomach to the floor… all the students and professors were looking at him… and a dark, intense presence was looming over him… not malicious but prying, demanding, commanding… he saw his eyes going black, signs of a vision… Severus had told him… someone was catching him… taking the knife from his hand… lowering him carefully to the ground…_

… _he stood at the crossroad again… the end of the road at his right opened up… Harry saw himself, standing with a sharp bloody knife in his room… alone… saw himself fall into the vision… bleeding profusely from a large cut on his stomach… he saw himself coming out of the vision… lying there pale and shaken in a growing pool of his own blood… still alone…_

… _then he was at the crossroad again… he looked behind him… saw himself sitting alone, afraid in a small dark room smelling of blood…_

Harry was thrown out of the vision as his magic disconnected from the river of time, retracting through the veil and smashing through the wound at his brow back into his body, closing it, stopping the blood flow and leaving only a thin pink line behind. In a few hours, the wound would look like it was weeks old, a small white scar amongst a lot of other scars.

Harry opened his eyes and groaned. Immediately, he felt someone tilt his head back and a potion was poured down his throat. A cool damp cloth was gently pressed against the new scar, removing the drying blood. The intense pain in his body faded, till it was only a lingering throb. He looked at Severus, who held a Blood-Replenishing Potion to his lips. Harry drank it without complaint, as well as the goblet of water after it. Then, he sank back into the cushion, closing his eyes.

He was exhausted, magically and physically, a bone-deep tiredness settled in him. Beside the steady throb of the remaining pain, he was dizzy, his head was spinning from the vision. The urge to vomit increased as he remembered himself lying in his own blood… he had looked like he was dying… oh Merlin… it seemed he had a choice to make…

The comforting voice of Severus made him open his eyes again.

"Do you want to talk about what you saw?" Concern in his black eyes, Severus covered him carefully with a blanket. Harry looked tiredly at him.

"A crossroad… a choice…stay… terrified child… alone or… reveal myself… help?... someone demanding…" Harry croaked out. Tears filled his eyes as he continued in a mere whisper. "I don't'…. what…. I do… d… alone… get used… again. I don't want to be used again!" Exhausted, he fell asleep.

Severus looked sorrowfully at his charge. If he understood correctly, Harry was at a crossroad. He had a choice to make. But what exactly the choice was, he did not tell. The comment about the terrified child was easy to understand.

Harry had been completely traumatized when Severus had brought him to Hogwarts, so very afraid to be used, like Dumbledore and his Order had used Harry. Afraid of every touch, of every shadow. He had not left his room for the first four months. So, was his choice to stay the terrified child he was before and stay alone, or reveal himself as what he was and be used again?

He had talked about someone demanding… Severus sighed, he had to wait till Harry woke up to talk with him.

Getting up, he put one more pillow under Harry's head, and went back to grading homework.

* * *

 **AN** : Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.

First published: 23th of April 2018

Last edited: 22nd of May 2019


	3. The Yule Ball

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN** : Many thanks to all of you who reviewed, followed and favoured, you guys are the best!

I am always happy to get reviews and I really want to answer the questions you ask, if I already know the answer. But I prefer to answer them with PMs and not in the AN of the fic. Nevertheless, I was asked, from a guest, what the pairings are for this story.

After some thinking about the plotline and where I want to go with the story and the characters, I decided to go HP/TMR(LV) for the main pairing. There will be some from canon, like Lucius/Narcissa, but I am not sure what to do with some of the younger generation like Draco, perhaps in a few chapters, when I've had the change to introduce some more characters, I'll have an idea who will function with whom in this setting. Any suggestions?

The main story arc is all there in my head, but the surrounding side story, character pairings etc. still need to develop.

I am grateful for questions, remarks, grammar and spelling correction messages, so review or PM me.

This chapter is beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope** , many thanks and hugs to her.

Have fun reading and please review.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Yule Ball**

Harry slept through lunch and parts of the afternoon. Severus had only one class to teach on Mondays, so he let him sleep on the settee in his office and made good progress on his paperwork while keeping an eye on him. Draco had knocked on his office door during third period, to ask if he had seen Harry, as he wanted to have lunch with him. He did not let him in and said Harry was slightly ill, which was not a complete lie.

With Yule the next day, classes ended after fourth period for all the years. Severus heard the happy chatters from his Slytherins walking in the hallway past his office to the common room. He was marking an incredibly poor essay from a second-year student with a T, as he heard a groan. Immediately, he placed his quill aside and went to the settee.

Harry's eyes slowly opened, he blinked at the light and then focused on Severus, who helped him sit up. Harry tiredly ran a hand over his face and took the headache-potion and general pain-reliever potion without complain. Sipping slowly at a warm cup of peppermint tea Severus had provided, he leaned back, relaxing.

"What time is it?"

"It's half past 2 pm." Severus brought a chair over and sat across from Harry.

"Do you want to talk about what you saw? You were vague in the morning," he carefully inquired. Harry sometimes wanted or needed to talk after a vision, either to come to terms with what he had seen, or to understand or rather interpret it correctly.

Sometimes, he only needed company without talking. And some visions Harry never shared with him, not even in parts. Severus was sure, that Harry never really told everything he saw. He once told him that some impressions were difficult to put into words. Harry had explained that he did not only see, no, all his senses could be involved. Sometimes he smelled, heard, felt and tasted inside the visions.

Harry looked absentminded into his teacup. Should he tell Severus what he had seen? What had he said in the morning? His memory was hazy. He always had problems to remember what he said directly after coming out of a vision. The aftereffects often affected him quite badly.

He recalled the misty crossroad. He hated crossroad visions, a choice that significant that he never could see beyond. He had once tried, but every other cut after it had only showed the crossroad, nothing beyond the choice. The choice _had_ to be made.

A vision was approaching, a severe one as it seemed. One which did not happen due to an accidental spilling of blood. No, accidental ones were not the only ones, but by far the most common.

But there were visions who wanted to be seen at all costs. They called for the magic in his blood. And his blood and magic tried to answer the call and reach them. Normally it started with a tingle. His magic started to swirl under his skin, till his whole body itched. It was maddening! And when his magic found the right spot for the cut, it concentrated there under the skin, burning and itching. Harry simply had to make a cut at the scorching skin and open the path for his blood and his magic to spill out of his body.

Once, only once in his life had he tried to ignore the itching. It had developed into a burning so severe that it felt like hot iron on his skin. And after a few torturing hours, his magic had grown violent, sending him into a seizure and bursting out of him, like something exploded under his skin.

He had lost a lot of blood that day and had nearly died. The vision he had seen, had also been a crossroad vision. One of the roads had showed him how he could survive the cruelty of the rebels long enough to be found, even if it had not shown him if he would live afterwards. It had not been important, when the time arrived that the vision had foreseen, death had felt like redemption.

So, he would get one of those major visions. And he either could face it alone in his room, his secret still safe, but without help and the actual possibility of not surviving… or he could go to the Great Hall. It had been festively decorated in his vision, and as all the students had been there, he was sure that it had been during the Yule ball.

Harry buried his head in his hands. This meant having his vision in front of all the students and the professors, exposing his secret. It would not be long till Lord Slytherin would hear about it. Nobody could guarantee him that Lord Slytherin would not want to use such a _wonderful handy_ gift. Nobody said no the Ruler of Wizarding Britain. He was the Dark Lord, what he wanted, he would get. And Harry's seer abilities were too convenient not to use.

The rebel Order had done it for years. They had taken every control away from him. He had been a tool, nothing more. They had stripped him, bound him to a cot and then cut him open repeatedly, till he could not differentiate between vision and reality anymore. Till the pain after a vision merged with the pain before the next one. His whole being had been entirely made of pain and visions.

Sometimes it had lasted days… to keep him alive, they had poured potion after potion down his throat. And they kept him awake after the visions to interrogate him about what he had seen, giving him no reprieve, no chance for his mind to rest, no chance for the pain to fade away. He had hated them, in his few clear moments he had hated them with a burning passion, it had kept him sane.

He had tried to hide what he saw as much as he could in his delirious condition.

Thank Merlin, he was immune to Veritaserum and had strong natural Occlumency shields. It came with the job description - benefits of being a seer.

And now he should expose himself? Risk that the control over his body would be taken away from him again? He was bloody terrified of that; it was what _all_ his nightmares were about.

But having the vision there – in the Great Hall, also meant help was at hand. His vision had clearly shown it. So, he could survive it, even if the vision-inflicted stomach wound had looked nasty. And it would mean a step away from the terrified traumatized child he had been, and still was. He _was_ scared to reveal himself, scared to be seen as nothing more than a useful tool again.

And what about this intense presence? Had it been a person, or some premonition of the coming vision? No, it had felt like a person, prying, demanding and dark… Severus' magic was dark, he was definitely demanding, and he never had tried to use him in anyway. When he had wanted to talk about his ability or a vision, it had always been to help Harry to come to terms with it. So, Severus would know what to do when he had the vision, he had the knowledge to help with the aftereffects… but Harry was sure it had not been Severus.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his musings.

"Harry?"

Harry looked into the worried eyes of his guardian. Severus' face was blank, but Harry could see the concern in his eyes, and it made a warm feeling settle in his stomach. There was someone who cared for him.

How long had he sat here, brooding, without acknowledging Severus' presence?

He cleared his throat.

"It was an awful one. First, I saw my Uncle and my Aunt. And Dudley. Looked like it was in a few years from now, and Dudley seemed to have something like a heart attack… but then…" He stopped, then he looked at his guardian, the only real father figure he had ever known, and steeled himself.

"I stood at a crossroad. I saw the possible choices. I didn't see the outcome of each choice, but there were hints. As it is my choice to make…"

"You don't have to tell me." Harry looked at Severus gratefully. "Whatever you decide, whichever way you choose, I will be there." Here, Harry could not look Severus in the eyes anymore. That was one of the points the vision had shown him. If he would choose to take the lonely road, to hide like he had for the last years, Severus _wouldn't_ be there. Would he find him, hours later, dead in his room?

Severus clearly saw how conflicted Harry was and let the conversation rest.

"I think it is best if you go to your room. Either nap or read. Rest."

Harry nodded, got up from the settee and left the office. Before he closed the door, he glanced back at Severus, who sat at his desk again.

"Thank you, Severus."

"Go rest, brat."

Harry closed the door and went to his room and did that.

* * *

After another nap back in his room, Harry felt rested enough to think about his vision again. The only result he got out of his musings was the beginning of a headache, so he let it go for now.

After supper, Draco visited, as every year at the evening before Yule. He had looked at Harry suspiciously, but had not asked about his "illness". They played card games and chess (in which Harry lost abysmally), talked and laughed about the silly attempts of Blaise Zabini, one of Draco's friends in Slytherin, to woo Daphne Greengrass, a pretty blond classmate and another good friend of Draco.

Harry knew them from Draco's stories. His description made it easy for Harry to identify them when he caught a glimpse in the hallways or the library. As he tried to avoid all the students normally, he had never spoken a word with them. He was not even sure they knew that he existed.

After they had had some hot chocolate with whipped cream, Draco looked at him.

"We are friends, aren't we Scarhead?" Harry looked at him, puzzled. He never had thought about it actually.

Draco was a wizard, and not just any wizard. He was the heir to the powerful and influential Malfoy family, one of the very old and very rich Pure-blood families. His father was Minister of Magic and the left Hand of the Leader of Wizarding Britain. And that was only the power his father held.

Harry knew from Severus that your position, influence and connections in Slytherin house could determine and help your career later in life. All the Slytherin students took part in the powerplay and everyone hoarded favours.

Draco was at the top of this hierarchy. He commanded Slytherin house, and not because of his family name and his father. He was intelligent, a straight O student, magically powerful and very quick with his wand. Nobody wanted to be at the end of his sharp tongue. He did not need a wand to reduce you to nothing.

And Harry… yes, he was also from an old Pure-blood family. The Potters had once been very influential, but that had been generations ago. He did not know if there was still some Potter money left, he never had been to Gringotts to check. His father had married a Muggle-born (which had still been scorned upon at their time) and they had joined the rebels. Not to mention his Squib status, he was not magically powerful in a way that mattered, nor did he have any important relations.

He was a nobody.

Draco did not gain anything from being his friend. Was he his friend? And why?

And he lied to Draco, all the time. Not directly to the face, but by not telling him of his visions, he lied to him by omission.

Something must have shown on his face, because Draco's face softened.

"Harry, not everything is about politics. I like spending time with you. I like that I don't have to be the pureblood heir around you. You don't look for a way to gain a favour or anything. I can relax with my Slytherin friends, but most of them grew up like me and we never can fully turn off our inner Pure-blood heir. You are blunt, intelligent, and witty and you don't hold back against me."

Harry only gaped at him. Draco laughed.

"I only wanted to tell you as your friend, that if you ever need someone to talk to…" he trailed off, embarrassed.

"I would never disclose your secrets."

Now Harry was staring uncomfortably at his hands, holding his now empty cup of hot chocolate. He knew Draco was intelligent and perceptive. So, it was no surprise that Draco knew he was hiding something.

"Thank you." He still could not look into Draco's eyes.

"You are welcome."

After a few silent moments, Draco got up and said his goodbye.

The short conversation had rattled Harry. Draco was his friend, his first and only friend. But he never would have thought that Draco thought of him as a friend too. A friendly and convenient acquaintance perhaps, who was so far down the social hierarchy, that he could not do anything against him even with the insight he had. Someone Draco could go to whine, brag and nag.

That Draco thought of him as a friend made Harry happy, really happy. But what would Draco's friends think about this unusual friendship?

He closed the door to his room behind him and looked around. What did Draco think every time he entered his room? What would Draco's friend think when they saw his barren rooms? Harry had never had a lot of possessions, and when Severus had found him, Harry only brought the clothes he was wearing at that time with him, which had been burned shortly after. Everything he owned now, had been bought for him by Severus.

For someone like Draco, an heir to a wealthy and old Pure-blood family, his rooms certainly looked barren and empty. There was a bed, with a colourful quilt over the duvet, a nightlamp on the bedside table, a wardrobe and a sideboard. Everything was made of dark wood. A cream-coloured carpet was on the cold stone floor in front of the bed. There were no trinkets, toys, pictures or knickknacks. Only a few books on the bedside table and a small nightlight crystal.

When Severus had first shown him the room and declared it as his, Harry had seen no reason to decorate it, and had been too afraid to ask for something. He had not believed that it would last. Now, he just liked it the way it was, and he still felt uncomfortable to own more than the most basic necessities.

He changed into his pyjamas and got under the thick and fluffy duvet, spreading the quilt over it for extra warmth. He switched the lights off. Like every lamp in Severus' quarters, they were made of a special goblin-made glass and could be switched on and off by a touch or magic.

Reaching for the nightlight crystal, he switched it on and the room was filled with a soothing, dim red light. Severus had given it to him after he had discovered that he had violent nightmares and would panic if he awoke in complete darkness.

He tried to fall asleep, but the images from his latest vision were flashing behind his closed eyes. He hated visions concerning himself, especially the ones giving him a choice. Sighing, Harry turned around. Was it really a choice? If he did not go to the Yule ball, it could be that he would not survive the upcoming vision. And if he did not survive, he could not tell what he had seen. What if it could save lives if someone knew what he saw?

The amount of blood he had seen was not a good indication. The intensity and extent of a vision equalled the amount of blood offered for his magic as a conduit. It had been a lot of blood, he was certain he would be thrown in a very long and intense vision. He shuddered. These visions were the worst.

It was long after midnight when sleep finally found him.

* * *

The first day of the holidays and the day of the Yule ball started cold and foggy. Breakfast was served later than usual and even Severus did not start before 8:00 am. He found his ward already awake and in the progress of making breakfast. At school days, they usually ordered their meals from the kitchens. But during holidays, Harry normally made breakfast.

Severus took a seat at the kitchen table and watched Harry prepare breakfast with practiced ease. He looked pale and tired. Severus knew something was bothering him and he was fairly sure it had something to do with yesterday's vision and the choice it showed him.

"Nightmare?" he enquired quietly.

Harry looked briefly over his shoulder at him before he turned his attention back to the frying pan full of eggs in front of him. But Severus had seen the tiny nod.

"The vision from yesterday?"

Harry nodded again and elaborated in a whisper: "In parts."

"You want to talk about it?"

Harry shook his head in denial.

"Harry, I can't help you if I don't know what is going on."

Harry sighed, took the frying pan with scrambled eggs, placed it on the table and took a seat himself.

Severus watched him prepare himself a cup of strong tea with milk and sugar.

"You can't help me, not with this." Harry took a gulp. "Yes, I had a nightmare. It wasn't directly about the vision. More about the consequences. I was back… in _that_ room and Dumbledore was there, and Moody." He paused.

Severus waited silently and put some eggs with bacon and mushrooms on his plate.

"But then the dream shifted, and I was in Hogwarts, I could see the lake from the window. I was still bound to a bed and someone was there… and I was cut… and the professors were there showing me to the students as a study object." Harry took another gulp of his tea and fell silent.

Severus set his cutlery aside and rested his chin on top of folded fingers. He waited till Harry looked at him.

"Harry, whatever that vision showed you, whatever you have to choose, I would do everything to prevent something like this from happening. Even if I have to go against Lord Slytherin. You will never be used like this again. Not as long as I am still breathing," Severus promised him in a serious voice. Harry's green eyes stared into his own, Severus let his resolve display in his expression.

Harry still looked a bit terrified, but his eyes also held gratitude.

Gratitude for him as his guardian, and for an adult to have his best interest at heart and fight for him. Severus knew how much it meant for Harry. Before him, there had been no one who had looked out for Harry.

Severus' eyes softened.

"Eat your breakfast, brat." He drawled fondly. "Afterwards we will visit the Yule market in Hogsmeade."

Feeling at least a little better, Harry dug into his breakfast. They visited the few small booths of the Yule market in Hogsmeade every year and Harry looked forward to spending some time with Severus. As a teacher and head of house, Severus had to attend the Yule ball. As Harry was not allowed and did not want to go the Yule ball (perhaps once he would love to see what all the fuss was about, but it was not worth the risk), he would be spending Yule evening in their quarters.

After a really enjoyable time in Hogsmeade, with hot chocolate and warm waffles, Harry and Severus were back in their quarters, preparing for the evening. Severus was in his potions lab, brewing some hangover and headache potions, grumbling under his breath about 'stupid dunderheads'. He complained every year that some idiot spiked the punch after the younger years had left the Yule ball, but as the majority of the students would be leaving tomorrow morning, he prepared the potions nonetheless.

Most of the students who needed them would be going to the hospital wing, but his Slytherins often came to him. The potions would be available only shortly before the train departed, so the drunkards had to at least to suffer through breakfast.

At 5 pm, Severus knocked at Harry's door and opened it slightly. Harry was lying on his bed, clad already in his pyjamas, reading a book and looking up at him.

"I have to leave now. Please don't leave our quarters, unless necessary."

"I promise. Have fun at the ball and see you tomorrow morning." Harry sent him a small smile and went back to his book.

Wishing a good night, Severus closed the door behind him and left. But as peaceful as everything had looked, he could not put aside the wary feeling. Putting a ward, that prevented anyone from entering but allowed Harry to leave, on the front door as a precaution, Severus walked briskly to the Great Hall, wishing the evening was already over.

He despised the Yule ball with all these boisterous exuberant children and the loud music.

* * *

After Severus had closed the door, Harry set his book aside and stared at the ceiling. He was nervous and felt dizzy and nauseated. Deciding that it did not help to brood in his room, Harry stood up and made himself a cup of tea. Cradling his teacup to warm his damp and cold fingers, he settled in an armchair near the fire, which was constantly burning, courtesy of the house-elves. He still felt like he was freezing, so he snuggled under a blanket.

He shortly considered to make the cut without the urge from his magic, as he knew where he had to cut approximately, but discarded the idea almost instantly. He could not be sure that the cut would show him the foretold vision.

Staring into the fire, Harry settled to wait… wait for the inevitable. He knew the vision would be coming, the only question would be when. He hoped a little it would be this Yule, he wasn't sure if he could live with the tension and uncertainty for a whole year.

* * *

Harry jerked awake. It took him a few seconds to realized that he had fallen asleep and what had woken him up: his whole body was itching.

He was wide awake in an instant.

Oh, bloody hell…

Harry threw the blanket aside and stood up. He rushed to the kitchen and took one of the kitchen knives. He stared at the reflection of his pale face in the shiny surface of the blade.

The itching turned into burning.

Oh Merlin… it had never happened so fast.

He saw himself holding this knife… lying in his own blood… alone…

His magic swirled under his skin, trying to find the right spot to spill blood for this vision.

Decision made, Harry grabbed the knife harder and turned around, taking a step in the direction of the front door. And another… and another… As he reached the door, he took a deep breath, opened it and stepped out into the dungeon corridor.

He made his way out of the dungeon on trembling legs, the familiar burning coursing through his body, urging him on. He reached the staircase in the moment he felt the vortex of his magic retracting towards his stomach.

His breath caught and the stumbled upstairs as fast as he could. His heart hammered in his chest.

Magic squirmed and burned in his blood, begging to be freed.

Harry made his way through the entrance hall, the knife tightly in hand. The music and the noise of hundreds of students in the Great Hall reached his ears and he realized he stood across the huge wooden double door. One of the wings was open. He stopped on shaky legs, gasping for breath, trying to compose himself.

The scorching of his magic intensified, his blood felt like it was boiling.

A patch of skin somewhere right from his bellybutton felt like it was stabbed with blazing hot needles.

Harry gulped and hoped the entrance hall would stop spinning soon. All he wanted to do was to bolt and hide. But there was no hiding from this, he could not hide from his own magic. He knew what he had to do.

He had to cut… _now_ …

He lifted his pyjama top and searched with numb, trembling fingers for the right spot. He nearly collapsed as his icy cold fingertips found the right patch of skin, which burned and coiled with concentrated magic. He lifted the knife to his stomach, the tip pressing into his skin one or two inches right from his belly button.

Taking a deep breath, Harry pressed the sharp blade firmer against his skin, and with a swift motion made a deep, long cut… blood spilled out of the wound instantly… his magic followed in a powerful burst…

Oh yes, this vision wanted to be seen desperately.

Feeling the pain from the cut already amplifying, Harry knew he only had a few moments. He stumbled through the door and entered the Great Hall for the first time since he had lived at Hogwarts, a bloody knife in his hands, blood pouring down his side and magic gathering around him like a storm cloud…

* * *

Severus scowled at a bunch of silly, giggling girls walking by. How he hated the Yule ball. All he wanted to do was go back to his quarters, drink some Firewhiskey, and check on Harry. His ward had been deeply disturbed by his vision. He had not had a nightmare about _them_ for some time now. Severus only hoped they could handle the aftermath of whatever incident the vision had foreseen.

He sighed. Harry's gift, as powerful and valuable as it was, was also complicated and challenging to handle. Sometimes, he wished he could get another opinion from someone, but revealing Harry's secret without his consent would be detrimental to their relationship. He would lose him. Harry did not trust easily.

Another bunch of giggling girls brought his attention back to where he was.

"Severus, if you don't stop scowling and glaring, you will scare these poor girls for life," an amused voice spoke.

Severus turned to his right side and fixed the cause of all the blushing and giggling teenagers with a glare. Minerva, a few seats down the table, paled at his expression, but as he was one of the few people in their world who could get away with glaring at this particular person, Severus took advantage of it. His glare was met with an amused look from crimson eyes, set in a handsome, aristocratic face. Even Severus could acknowledge that.

"They see me every day for seven years, scowling and glaring at them. I don't think a few more times will hurt the dunderheads, my Lord," Severus answered in an indifferent tone, ensuring to use Lord Slytherin's title, they were in public after all.

What should it matter to him if the students liked him or not? It was even better if they were afraid of him, it kept them on their toes during potions class.

Lord Marvolo Slytherin chuckled beside him.

"May I enquire why you decided to attend the Yule ball, my Lord?" Severus asked politely. So far, Marvolo had never attended the Yule ball since they started the tradition a few years ago.

"I finished some business earlier, and as a student myself I loved Yule at Hogwarts. Even if it still was called Christmas," Marvolo answered with a small smile. "So, I thought to come earlier and relax. Why Severus, you don't enjoy my presence?" Here his smile turned shark-like.

Severus sighed. "Of course not, my Lord. I simply wondered." He felt a headache blooming. Marvolo was in a much too good of a mood, which resulted normally in a dialogue too similar to dodging a fire-breathing dragon. Normally, Severus would leap into the banter, Lord Marvolo Slytherin and Lucius Malfoy were some of the rare people who appreciated and reciprocated his dark humour, witty remarks and sarcasm. But today his worry for Harry was at the front of his mind, distracting him.

Which was not overlooked by a very perceptive Lord Slytherin.

"Severus, what is going on? The whole evening, you've been distracted," Marvolo asked bluntly. Which was not only out of concern for one of his Lieutenants. Severus was not only his right hand and one of the best Potions masters, he was also the head of his spy network. Every bit of gathered information wandered through his hand for evaluation and categorization. As the rebels had been suspiciously silent for some time now, it was not farfetched that whatever distracted Severus could be related to the network.

"Nothing you have to be concerned about, my Lord. A family matter," Severus told him.

"The Potter boy you took in years ago?" Marvolo looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, my Lord," Severus answered brusquely.

"Wasn't he tested as a Squib?" Marvolo tapped his chin thoughtful. "You found him in one of the rebel camps in quite a bad shape, didn't you?"

"Yes, we concluded that they had used him for some experiments, and yes, I went with him to the testing office and he was registered as a Squib." Severus was not sure if he liked the sudden interest in Harry. If his Lord knew about him, some things would be so much easier. And as Lord Slytherins right hand, Lieutenant, and friend -as far as someone like Lord Slytherin could have friends- he felt uncomfortable to hide something of such importance. But it was not his secret to tell and Harry was terrified of someone knowing about his special kind of magic.

"Did something happen to him? Is he ill?"

"No, it's something personal…" Severus was interrupted when he heard a commotion at the double doors to the Great Hall. Then, he could identify the high-pitched annoying voice of Zacharias Smith.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The disdain was clearly heard. " _Your sort_ is neither welcomed nor allowed _here_ , _Squib_." Severus' instincts not only told him that whoever had entered was Harry (there were no other Squib at Hogwarts at the moment), but that something urgent must have happened. Harry knew he was not allowed near the Great Hall and he never had showed the desire to be there. He did not like crowds and would never come to the Great Hall, during the Yule ball no less, if it was not something really important.

When he heard a collective gasp from the students near the doors and a shocked scream from one of the younger years, his worry increased. He and Marvolo were on their feet instantly and rushed through the crowd of students.

As they approached the door, the crowd parting for them, Severus' heart stopped beating. Harry, the one person he had been worrying over the whole evening, stumbled into the Great Hall, a knife in his hand, blood pouring down his side and a wild, terrified look in his eyes. Eyes which locked onto him as a horrified "Harry…" escaped him.

Severus froze at the amount of blood gathering at Harry's feet and he practically could see Harry's magic gathering around him, the air around him tasted like thunderclouds. Fear squeezed Severus' heart, fear like he had not felt in a long time.

At the sight of Severus, Harry's knees gave out, and before Severus could even think to react, someone else caught him before he could hit the ground. Severus rushed to Harry's side, who was lowered gently to the ground by Marvolo, who took his hand and held his pain-filled gaze.

"This is what you have seen?" he asked in a shocked whisper. He felt Harry's whole body tremble in pain.

"Yes, it was either this, or dying alone." Harry answered in a whisper; voice strained. Then, he gritted his teeth and Severus could do nothing more than to hold his hand and hold his gaze, giving him something to anchor himself against the pain.

A few moments later, which felt like hours, Harry's eyes went completely black and his body went still.

Severus closed his eyes briefly, bringing his Occlumency shields up with full force. Sealing his worries behind them, he turned towards the cut Harry had made. Only now did he register that Harry was merely wearing his pyjama and a pair of socks, so he cast a warming and cushion charm on the floor under his ward. Then, he lifted the pyjama top. He sucked in a shocked breath. It was a deep and long cut, an inch or so at the right side of his belly button.

"Shouldn't we stop the bleeding?" A terrified voice asked from his side.

Severus looked up and met the shaken gaze of Draco Malfoy. He shook his head.

"No, we have to let it bleed till he comes out of the vision. Don't even try to vanish it, his magic is anchored in his blood, so if you disrupt the blood flow, Merlin knows what it would do to him." Severus knew that most of the Hogwarts population was listening to him, but the cat was out of the bag and the only thing important now was to help Harry. He was losing far too much blood.

"Draco, run to my quarters and bring me the blood-replenishing potions from my potion cabinet. And the headache and general pain-reliever potions, the strongest ones," Severus instructed. Then, he looked up and took notice of who was standing beside Draco, who had rushed out of the Great Hall immediately.

"Blaise, run and get Madam Pomfrey. Tell her to bring the same potions, just in case." Blaise followed Draco, with a rather confused look on his face, but he did not argue.

"Headmaster, please, could you send the students to their dorms? They don't need to see this." The Headmaster nodded, and together with the other teachers guided the students out of the Great Hall, carefully stepping around Harry and the growing pool of blood.

"Severus, you have questions to answer." The hard voice of Lord Slytherin directed Severus' attention to his Lord. The look in the crimson eyes promised an intensive conversation.

* * *

The moment he had heard the scream, Marvolo Slytherin knew it had something to do with the strange mood Severus had been in this evening. He was on his feet in an instance and made his way through the parting crowd. His battle-toned instincts kicked in when his gaze fell on the small figure stumbling into the Great Hall.

His wand was out without a second thought as he registered the bloody knife in the hand of the pale, shaken boy, and the blood streaming down his side, soaking into his pyjama top and trousers, and magic gathering around him like storm clouds.

He recognized the boy, Severus' ward, the Squib. Marvolo could not suppress a sneer.

Yes, he promoted to keep Squibs in the magical world, they still were magical blood. He hoped to wipe out the existence of Squibs in the coming generations by preventing inbreeding. But the origin of Squibs could not be completely based only on inbreeding. The Potter boy was such an example. His father had been a Pure-blood and his mother the first Muggle-born in her family in generations. Lily Evans had been a really powerful witch and had brought fresh blood to the old Potter line. The boy _should not_ be a Squib. He should have enough magic and be able to utilize it. Perhaps there was more than a genetic component, perhaps also a magical one.

Focusing back on the events before him, Marvolo cast a fast and powerful widespread life force searching spell. But the only life forces he found were here in the Great Hall, the house-elves in the kitchen, Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing and Mr. Maison, the caretaker, in his office.

He cast another spell directly at the boy (carefully because of the vast amount of magic around the boy), which came out negative, to find any traces left from an aggressive or harmful spell. Marvolo was sure he had not been attacked. But what had happened then? Why was he wounded?

"Harry…"

He registered the shock in Severus' voice and analysed the situation once more while rushing forward to catch the boy as his knees gave out, taking the bloody knife from his hand, putting it aside. As he lowered him unto the ground, Marvolo marvelled over the crushing pressure of the magic around the small boy. Was he not a Squib? Where was the magic coming from?

His mind worked overtime, registering the pain-laced and terrified gaze, which focused on Severus, the tremors going through the body, the blood dripping on the ground and especially the short conversation between Severus and his ward.

He had seen what? His mind supplied him with hundreds of different possible explanations.

Which were narrowed down to a handful when the boy went limp and his eyes completely black.

When Severus lifted the pyjama top to reveal the cut, Marvolo narrowed his eyes in shock. The cut was deep and long, but what startled him where the number of faint scars over the boy's belly.

The existence of these scars, combined with everything he had observed so far, reduced the possibilities to only one. Severus' explanation why they should not stop the bleeding was only the confirmation.

Visions… anchored in his blood… _Salazar_ … the boy was definitely not a Squib, he was a frigging **Blood Seer**!

But how? Blood Seers were myths, the ability lost for centuries… and why was he living as a Squib?

The vast benefits of a gift like this in his hands were circling in his head.

Severus barked orders, which brought Marvolo back to what was happening in front of him. He heard the students leave the Hall and fixed Severus with a glare.

Severus had known about the boy's abilities! And he had hidden them! He had kept a secret of this magnitude from him, his Lord! He had a lot of explaining to do.

"Severus, you have questions to answer."

Severus' black eyes found his own crimson ones, and he saw the submission to the order and acceptance of any consequences.

Then, Lucius' son was back with an armful of potions, and Severus' attention snapped back to the bleeding boy between them.

* * *

The moment Draco was back with the potions, Severus broke the eye contact with his Lord and grabbed the blood-replenishing potion out of his arms.

"Draco, hold his head." Draco sat down at Harry's head and did as instructed. Severus gently pried Harry's mouth open, emptied the potion vial and stroked his throat carefully to help him swallow. Checking the wound and the amount of blood Harry had lost so far, he decided to give him another one.

A few seconds later, Poppy Pomfrey hurried into the Great Hall. After assessing the situation, she sat as his side and started to cast diagnostic spells. Severus hand snapped out and stopped her hand.

"Don't."

Poppy looked startled. "Severus…?"

"Don't use magic on him at the moment. Harry has a vision, he is a Blood Seer. His magic is anchored in his blood and builds a connection with… _something_ on another magical level. We have to wait till his magic breaks the connection and withdraws into his body. It will heal the wound itself. As long as he is in the vision, all we can do is wait and prevent him from dying of blood loss."

Poppy's eyes had grown bigger with Severus' explanation, then the mediwitch in her took control.

"You gave him blood-replenishing potions already?"

"Yes, two."

"Give him another one in two minutes. How long are these visions normally, and how long is he under this one already?"

"The duration of every vision differs. Depending on the extent of the cut and the amount of blood, they can be between two minutes to however long is needed, the longest I witnessed so far was around ten minutes. He fell in this vision… maybe five minutes ago."

Everyone around him listened in stunned silence. Meanwhile, Poppy had taken Draco's position and cast a quick _tempus_ , then she gently fed Harry another blood-replenishing potion.

"So, if we would stop the blood flow, we would cut the connection between him and…" Poppy was struggling with an adequate term.

"Harry calls it the _river of time_ , he explained once that it feels like his magic is reaching through a veil and then dives into a wild river." Severus still had his eyes fixed on the motionless form of his ward. Harry's eerie black eyes were staring unseeing at the ceiling, his body limp. Severus could still feel the magic in the air and he was still losing blood…

What was he seeing?

* * *

Harry had been blinded for a moment as he stepped into the Great Hall, as it was bathed in the light from thousands of candles, then the noise had crashed down on him. He felt dizzy and had problems staying on his feet. But he had to find Severus.

He felt his blood streaming out of the deep cut, warm and wet down his side. The pain of the cut had already spread throughout his body, setting his skin and blood on fire, his breathing came in short, raspy gasps.

He frantically scanned the crowd for Severus, or at least Draco. Someone he knew, someone who would help. Harry gritted his teeth in the attempt to not cry out… this vision was _smarting_ …

"What are _you_ doing here?" The very unwelcome voice of Smith distracted Harry from his search. He slowly moved his gaze to the boy standing a few feet away, but his head started spinning and… oh Merlin _it hurt_ … he felt his muscles cramping beneath the scorching skin and his boiling blood…

" _Your sort_ is neither welcomed nor allowed _here_ , _Squib_." Harry need not see Smith's face to see the sneer, the disdain was easy to identify.

Then, Harry's eyes found familiar black ones and he saw Severus' lips moving, but he could not hear the words. Thank Salazar… Severus was here.

Relief floated through him, and his last bit of strength left him as his arms and legs went numb because of exhaustion and pain. Harry was sure he would hit the ground, but strong, warm arms caught him and lowered him carefully to the ground.

Then, Severus was beside him, looking concerned, terrified (Harry would have frowned if he had the strength for it, Severus was never terrified) and shocked.

"This is what you have seen?" he asked in barely audible whisper. Harry nodded, his entire body trembling, but from somewhere he found the energy to answer in an equally quiet whisper. "Yes, it was either this, or dying alone."

Harry held Severus' gaze as the next wave of excruciating pain wrecked through his body. He anchored himself in those black eyes, as blazing hot knives pieced his skin and his bones felt like they were being shattered. Harry could feel his magic surging, the pain was nearly unbearable, and then – finally – was reaching across the veil, connecting with the river of time.

As the vision smashed into his mind, the world ceased to exist.

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.

Many thanks for GeMerope for helping to improve my grammar and spelling.

First published: 1st of May 2018

Last edited: 27th of May 2019


	4. The Vision

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN** : Thanks for all the comments and reviews and to everybody who followed and favoured. You guys make me really happy.

I had to edit the summary of this story a little, because the idea of the vision changed since I wrote the summary.

And we have the first 'appearance' of Dumbledore… is it bashing if he is the villain in this?

I am grateful for questions, remarks, grammar and spelling correction messages, so review or PM me.

This chapter is beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope** , many thanks and hugs to her.

Have fun reading and please review.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Vision**

As the world ceased to exist, the _foggy landscape inside a vision surfaced._

 _The fog changed into the grounds outside Hogwarts and Harry could see the students climb into carriages… the breath of the Thestrals was misty in the cold air… he saw them enter the Hogwarts Express, the steam from the red engine rising into the air … Draco was talking excitedly with his friends… Harry heard the whistle announcing the departure… the train slowly rolled out of the station…_

 _It started snowing… he could feel the snow on his skin…_

 _The Hogwarts express made its way through snowy landscapes… Harry was flying somewhere over the train, following… he could hear the exited chatter from inside the train…_

 _Suddenly he was pulled forward… the foggy surroundings of in-between visions spinning around him…_

 _The train approached another station, this one much bigger than the Hogsmeade one with only one track… Harry saw the sign 'Platform 9 ¾'… ah_ , _King's Cross in London… he had never been there… Harry was standing alone on the platform… no other person in sight…_

 _The Hogwarts Express rolled into the station and stopped… students alighted from the train… confused faces everywhere… where were their parents?... unsure whispers…_

" _Welcome to you all, my dear children." A cheerful voice rose over the whispers… Harry turned around… dread filling him…_

 _Albus Dumbledore, clad in hideous purple robes with golden snitches, stood at the entrance of the platform, beaming at the children… a gasp went through the crowd of students… the elder ones pushing the younger years behind them… wands were drawn… Draco and the other prefects put themselves at the front…_

" _No, you don't have to be afraid_ , _" Dumbledore tried to sooth them, a serene smile on his face, his eyes twinkling…_

 _Harry had to remind himself that this was only a vision… he was not really here… and Dumbledore was not actually standing before him… still, he could not suppress the trembling of his body…_

" _I am here to help you, to give you a choice." Dumbledore was still smiling, but it had an edge now…_

" _And tell, what would this_ choice _entail?" Draco spoke, his eyes narrowing suspiciously…_

" _You could come with me, join us, help us rid this world of a monster. A tyrant who wants to dictate everything, who is holding you and the entire Wizarding population of Great Britain as hostages. Join us, and you will fight for a better future, not only for you_ , _but all the generations to come. A future where you can make your own choices." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like crazy now…_

" _Who is he to regulate your contact with the Muggle world? Why should Muggle-borns cut off most of their connection with the Muggle part of their heritage? Why should they lose their childhood among their families and friends in the Muggle World only to learn the old traditions? Why should we not welcome the new traditions and holidays from the Muggle-Borns? Think about it, my dear children. A dictator reigns Wizarding Britain, and he strives to regulate everything. He filters the knowledge coming from the Muggle world. They have made great new discoveries and inventions, which could benefit us all. If we stay like this, our society will stagnate. Marriages are now encouraged mostly on blood status and are means to bring new blood into the old bloodlines. Why shouldn't you be able to marry whoever you want, regardless of blood status?" Dumbledore started to pace in front of the crowd of students… who looked stunned at his speech…_

" _The man who stands behind the Ministry and controls it, is not a human anymore. He slipped too deep into the Dark Arts, mutilating himself as a human being. He even allows you, innocent and pure children, to learn the highly dangerous Dark Arts at school. Do you really want to follow a monster? You are the future of magical Britain, and we want to help you to have the future you want." Here Dumbledore paused and looked expectantly at the students… but he mostly got either shocked faces or indifferent ones… his face fell, and he looked disappointed at them…_

" _I see, his brainwashing ideology already took roots." Now he looked sad… Harry did not believe him one bit…_

 _Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes as if he was in great pain…_

" _If it is like this, I am sorry, but I can't let you return to your parents and later to Hogwarts. I can't let him mould you into his perfect little puppets with a clear conscience. He would only use you against me in the future." He sighed again… "Nobody wants to come with me? Join us! Fight for a better future!" He held out his hands expectantly… nobody moved… Dumbledore shook his head sadly…_

" _For the Greater Good_ , _I can't allow him to use you, and if you are not willing to help me, then I have to make sure you can't be used by him."_

 _Suddenly_ , _there were other people there, behind Dumbledore… raising their wands at the students… Dumbledore was still smiling and beaming…_

" _Don't be afraid, you will be not hurt. We only want to bring you to a safe location. Perhaps we even can undo the brainwashing."_

 _His cheerful explanation did not have the effect he had anticipated… the students whispered to each other and suddenly there was a flush of motion… the younger years went back into the train, gathering in one carriage… barricading them… the older took guard outside… grim expressions on their faces… wands raised…_

 _Harry was not sure who sent the first spell… but in an instance a battle had started…_

 _Dumbledore and his men were only a few, but they were battle-experienced adults… on the other side were hundreds of students and they used what their professors had taught them well…_

 _Harry could not identify the spells_ , _but at the beginning it looked like the rebels only used light ones to try to subdue the students… who answered with everything they got, even the younger ones shot spells from inside the compartments through the open windows… someone blew up one of the empty carriages… debris was flying around… some students went down… and the fight grew bloody…_

 _Harry tried to concentrate on the attackers… there was Dumbledore fighting with a sad and disappointed expression on his face… Harry gulped… he had recognized Moody… and there was Black_ , _looking confused about the situation… but there were many more… most of them he did not know…_

 _More and more students went down… he saw Draco's friend Blaise get hit by a spell… he did not get up again… Smith lost one of his legs to another spell… but the attackers also had casualties…_

 _The screams and shouting rang in his ears… one or two times_ , _he even could feel the heat from a spell shoot past him as he was standing there in the middle of pandemonium…_

 _But the worst was the smell… the smell of smoke and blood choked him… the air was loaded with magical energy…_

 _And the dead lying around the platform… students and rebels alike… Harry knew some of the faces…_

Boom _… Harry jumped around… the entrance to the platform had been blasted away… and finally help was arriving… Harry got a brief glimpse of platinum blond hair as Draco's parents rushed onto the platform with the other parents…_

 _The fight grew even more vicious… and then a stray course hit Draco… Harry could only watch as his friend fell, blood pouring out of multiple wounds… he coughed and spluttered blood… and went still… Harry stared… around them_ , _the attackers got desperate…_

 _Another group of witches and wizards arrived…_

 _And then Draco's parents were kneeling beside their son… and Severus was standing behind Draco's mother… screams and tears…_

 _Harry's stomach churned, and he had the strong urge to throw up… but he was in a vision, he could only watch…_

 _The noise from the fight around them died away…_

 _Harry broke away from the horrible picture in front of him and looked around… Lord Slytherin with his best fighters and the Aurors had arrived… Slytherin and Dumbledore fought each other… the rebels were heavily outnumbered and fled…_

 _Harry took in the destruction and chaos at the platform… parents were searching and screaming for their children… injured and wounded everywhere… and the dead… he did not even want to look who was among the dead…_

He was thrown out of the vision with the force of a sledgehammer. His head was pounding and his whole body was screaming and trembling in pain. Despite it, Harry turned his upper body to the side and threw up everything he had in his stomach and more.

The retching did not even stop when he had nothing he could vomit anymore. Gastric acid burned his throat and the smell watered his already tear-filled eyes. He could not get the image of Draco lying dead on the ground out of his mind. It was imprinted permanently on his retinae.

Strong, warm arms carefully held him up. Potion vials were pressed against his lips and he swallowed automatically, sighing as the pain in his body subsided to a dull ache. Harry groaned and tried opening his eyes, wincing when the candlelight in the Great Hall stabbed into them shortly. He could see blurry figures around him. The first who came into his focus was Severus, worry in his eyes and something more…

Then Harry saw Draco kneeling beside him, with Blaise looming behind him. Draco looked pale and anxious, Blaise unsure what he was even doing here. Harry started to tremble and when Draco looked at him and… oh Merlin… _Draco lying on the ground_ , _blood pouring out of multiple wounds… he coughed and spluttered blood… and went still…_

Harry was only just fast enough to lean to the side and tried to vomit again, but there was nothing in his stomach anymore. His head started spinning and he could not even find the strength to stop his head from lolling around, his body shaking from lingering pain and exhaustion. He felt dizzy, numb and drained.

Warm and gentle hands steadied him. Harry looked blearily up and forgot to breathe when his gaze met ruby red eyes. Only one person had eyes like that. He sucked in a shocked breath when he realized that the one steadying him and holding him up a few moments earlier was Lord Marvolo Slytherin.

The intense gaze held his own till the dizziness made Harry close his eyes to stop the need to throw up again. Another potion was tipped into his mouth, he swallowed unconsciously. His head stopped spinning instantly and the queasiness faded away, but now he felt even more drowsy, and the physical and magical exhaustion was catching up to him.

A soft whisper had him opening his eyes reluctantly. Black eyes found and held green ones.

"Harry, can you tell us what the vision was about?" Severus' deep soft voice calmed him.

Harry opened his mouth and tried to reply, but his voice came out as a barely audible croak. Someone, he thought it was Severus, helped him to drink some water, but the simple act drained the last bit of strength in him. Before anybody registered what happened, Harry passed out.

* * *

It was the longest vision Severus had witnessed so far. Twenty agonizing minutes, in which they tried everything to prevent Harry from bleeding out. When Severus could feel the connection dissolving and Harry's magic recoiling into his body, healing the deep cut in his stomach on his way, he sighed in relief. Harry's eyes closed, and his body started trembling.

Poppy immediately vanished the blood on the floor and on Harry with a flick of her wand and started running diagnostic spells.

A rush of motion, and suddenly Harry was rolling to the side and threw up violently till nothing was coming up anymore. Severus tried not to stare when Marvolo caught the teen's hand and held him gently upright while he was retching.

Whatever that vision had entailed, it had been horrible.

"Severus, we should move him to the hospital wing as soon as possible. His blood pressure is dangerously low, he really lost too much blood. But we can't give him more blood-replenishing potions, it would overload his system. His nerves are damaged… I only saw something similar in victims of prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus curse…" Poppy trailed off, clearly disturbed by the findings of the diagnostic charm. "I want to monitor him at least overnight, and perhaps a nerve-repairing or the after-crucio draught could help. But for now, pain-reliever potion should be administered."

Severus nodded and was already feeding Harry one of the strongest pain-reliever potions and a headache potion. It was not the first time he dealt with the aftereffects of a vision, even if it was the most violent so far.

"I already tried the nerve-repairing or the after-crucio potion, they have no effect. His magic will heal the damage by itself, after it has been replenished. Due to the physical and magical exhaustion, he will sleep till at least tomorrow morning or perhaps lunch time."

A groan brought the attention of everybody present to Harry, whose eyelids shuddered before he opened them. Hazy green eyes settled on Severus, who opened his mouth to say something, as Harry's gaze wandered to the next person. He went completely pale and moved his head sideways to throw up again.

Severus looked beside him, where Draco was kneeling, Blaise behind him. Both looked confused.

"Perhaps an anti-nauseating and anti-dizziness potion would be appropriate. It would be fatal if he loses even more fluids." Poppy suggested. Draco immediately looked through the potion vials available and handed the right ones to Severus.

Severus curled his lips in amusement when he saw Harry's shocked gaze as he opened his eyes again and realised who was steadying him, then he tipped the potions in his mouth. The effect was instant, but Severus' attempt to get Harry to tell him the content of the vision only led to him falling into unconsciousness due to exhaustion. He really hoped Harry would be awake and responsive before whatever the vision had contained occurred.

Harry had seldom visions of peaceful and happy incidents.

* * *

They had moved the Seer to the hospital wing into Madam Pomfrey's capable hands. Marvolo had then retired to his personal office at Hogwarts, signalling to Severus he should join him after he made sure everything was alright with his ward. While he waited, he marvelled over his own behaviour after the Seer had come out of the vision. He had unintentionally steadied the boy and had held him upright gently when it had been clear he had no strength at all to do it himself.

Marvolo was perplexed by his reaction. It had been long ago that he felt such… gentleness towards another living being. But the boy had looked so small and hurt, and Marvolo had felt the violent trembling as he had held him.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his office door.

"Enter."

Severus stepped in and bowed lightly.

"My Lord," he greeted him, carefully polite, a vassal to his Lord. Marvolo surveyed him.

"Sit down Severus. I think we have some important issues to discuss." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Tea?"

Marvolo noticed how Severus relaxed slightly. Tea was not served during an interrogation. It was a silent gesture from Marvolo that he was only mildly displeased. After seeing Severus' behaviour, he had a good intuition why Severus had kept the existence of the Seer a secret.

"Yes, please."

A house-elf brought the tea and they sat in silence while preparing their cups.

"Severus, tell me about your ward." A simple order.

"What do you want to know?" Severus cautiously asked.

This one question told Marvolo a lot about Severus' relationship to the boy. Severus was loyal to the Seer. Even now that Marvolo knew what the boy was, he tried to find the thin line where he could keep the boy's secrets and tell Marvolo enough to satisfy him. Severus had been one of his best spies and knew how to walk this line.

"What can you tell me about how you found him? When did you learn about his abilities?"

Severus took a controlled breath and set his teacup down.

"When I discovered Harry in the rebel camp five years ago, it was not a pretty sight. They held him in a small room, the only furniture a cot. He was dreadfully thin, obviously malnourished and already had a significant number of scars. The whole room stank of blood. He was only a child, eleven years old. He never talks about his time there, but from the signs and his behaviour it is not hard to guess what happened. Especially as the rebels were suspiciously lucky in the time Harry was with them. They evaded all of our raids and seemed to know a lot of our plans. I think they used him without his consent, based on the impression of the room and that Harry asked me if I would kill him. My Lord, he looked _hopeful_ when he asked me to kill him. What eleven-year-old child _hopes_ to be killed." Severus' distress was obvious and Marvolo had to agree.

"I brought him to Hogwarts, where Poppy discovered that he was not only malnourished, but also dangerously underweight, had a few broken bones that hadn't healed correctly, and he suffered from heavy blood loss. She healed what she could, and I took him as my ward. He was a traumatised child and very suspicious of everyone and everything. Didn't come out of his room for the first months, refused to eat or drink something he couldn't be sure was not tampered with. He didn't speak with me for weeks, had violent nightmares, flinched at every sound and movement." Severus paused, trying to calm his thoughts.

"And before? He wasn't always with the rebels, or was he?"

"No, he was with Muggles, and when his visions started, they seemed to have informed Dumbledore. He came and got him when he was around six years old. He doesn't talk about the Muggles either." Severus gave him a meaningful look.

"Does he know why he grew up with these Muggles and do you know who they are?"

"He doesn't know, they told him his parents didn't want him. I can only guess that the Potters tested him for his magical core, and when the results declared him a Squib, they deemed it to be too dangerous to keep him in the magical world. And as Lily never would give his son to some strangers, I came to the conclusion that she gave him to her sister Petunia. I knew her as a mean and nasty child and I can't see her changing over the years. But he knows who and what his parents were." Severus sighed.

"So, he was given away because of his unique ability and later was used cruelly because of it. It is a wonder he doesn't resent it. How did you discover that he was a Blood Seer?"

"He hid it really well. I didn't know for months. He outright refused to take any potion, even if I took a sip to show it was safe. He was suspicious of the ingredients. So, I started to show him how I prepared the ingredients and brewed the potion, and when he showed interest, I started to teach him. He was a quick learner and better than most of the dunderheads I usually have the misfortune to teach." Which was a high praise coming from Severus. Marvolo chuckled. "The first potion he brewed successfully by himself was the visual-acuity-correcting potion, because he hated his glasses." Which was astonishing, this potion was N.E.W.T level.

"One day, during preparing ingredients, he accidently cut his finger. He tried to conceal it and leave, but I had seen it and tried to patch him up. I could feel the magic building up around him and witnessed the vision. A short one, I don't even remember anymore what Harry saw that day. But afterwards he didn't have a choice and explained his abilities."

"He is tested and registered as a Squib, isn't he? How can he be a Blood Seer when he has not enough magic to be a wizard?"

Severus nodded. "Yes, I brought him to the Ministry after a few months living here and got him tested. His core is too small and his core magic erratic. But I have my suspicion that his core is small _because_ he is a Blood Seer."

"Explain." Marvolo leaned back in his chair and looked interested at Severus.

"This is all theoretical, but I believe his magic is not localized in his core, as in common witches and wizards. He is magical, but he can't utilize his magic through a wand, because most of it is concentrated in his _blood_ instead of his core. Harry once commented that he can feel his magic swimming in his veins. He has access to it, but it is completely concentrated on one ability. As a Blood Seer, his magic is tightly linked with his blood. His skin is the barrier keeping his magic from constantly reaching for visions. In the occurrence of an opening in his barrier, the magic streams out, together with the blood, and connects with what he calls _the river of time,_ what I think is time magic. The testing ritual used in the Ministry only tests and measures the size and accessibility of the magical core."

"Interesting theory, but as there is no ritual to test for magic outside of the magical core, it is nearly impossible to verify," Marvolo mused. It was an interesting concept and it would explain the amount of magic he had felt around the boy when he had had the vision. Did the introduction of new blood from the Muggle-born witch Lily Evans unlock old and powerful abilities in the old Pure-blood lines from the Potter side? Had there been a seer in the Potter family once or did it come from one of the other old lines which had intermarried with the Potters over the generations? Where there more assumed Squibs who were not really Squibs?

Severus continued. "There is some evidence, beside his visions, that Harry is no Squib. Normally, a Squib can't use any magical transportation, brooms don't even react to them. They can't brew some potions, because the innate magic of the brewer is required for the brewing procedure and some portions don't have any effect on them. Harry can do all of this. We carefully tested everything over the last years, and despite his nearly non-existing magical core and that no wand reacts to him, everything else regards him as a wizard."

Marvolo looked at Severus' pensively. "So, you would say he is a wizard with highly specialized magic and therefore limited in the more common use of magic," Marvolo concluded. He silently agreed with Severus; it was a logical conclusion based on every fact they knew. And it would solve the implausibility of a child from a Pure-blood and a Muggle-born being a Squib.

"Yes."

"Do you think there are more Squibs like him?"

If the introduction of new blood into old lines brought forth one magical ability which had been believed to be long extinct, why should there not be another.

"I think if there are more, they hide their abilities. We have to take into account how our society scorns Squibs. These people lived as Squibs so far, they were disregarded like Squibs. I don't think they told someone or would even come forth with it. Not as long as nothing changes for them. What would they be in the eyes of the society or the law? We define a wizard by his magical core and the ability to use a wand, by this definition they are not wizards."

"So, we have to find a more extended testing method to differentiate between Squibs and wizards of whom the majority of their magic is not located in the core. Perhaps the Goblins at Gringotts know a ritual to test for non-core magic. And we need new laws regarding them. It should be made clear that they are wizards and witches even if they can't wield a wand," Marvolo mused.

"That would help to get some of them out of hiding. But it must be very clear that they are not second-class witches and wizards. They should have all the rights an ordinary wizard also has," Severus agreed.

"I will talk with Lucius today regarding these findings. We should start with finding a term for them. We can't call them Squibs if they have access to their magic, as concentrated and therefore limited as it may be. If your theory is correct, they _are_ wizards, but as they can't wield a wand we have to distinguish between the ones with a wand and the ones without. I like the sound of _specialized wizards_ as a general term, compared to the ordinary wizard. Then, it can be further distinguished on where the magic is located or what magic there are specialised in. For this we need to know what forms this specialization can take." Marvolo tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"In Harry's case then, Blood Magic wizard? Or directly Blood Seer? That is what he is," Severus wondered.

"I think we would categorize him as a specialized wizard with the further distinction Blood Magic wizard. Blood Seer is more a title like Potions Master. But we strayed a little off the subject," Marvolo chuckled. "How willing would you think Mr. Potter will be to work with us?"

Severus tensed. "It would depend on how you define 'work with'." He rested his arms on his legs. "Harry is terrified of being used again. As I said, he doesn't talk about his time with the rebels. I once asked him and the only answer I got was that he was a tool, used against his will, stripped off every control over his body and his ability. He never elaborated." Severus paused, collecting his thoughts. "But he tries to help every time he sees something. He talked with me in the cases he didn't know what he could do. He can't leave the things he sees alone. He has the inner need to help and he has nothing but contempt for the rebels around Dumbledore." Severus looked up and fixed Marvolo with an intense gaze.

"So, Severus, am I right if I guess that some of the highly specific and valuable information you brought forth wasn't in fact from our spy network?" Marvolo smirked at him.

Severus shook his head and tried to hide a grin. "No, our spy network is good, but not **that** good. Harry provided a lot of the top priority information in the last years."

Marvolo took a gulp from his tea. "In a way he already worked for us. If I phrase it correctly, do you think I can persuade him to do it more openly and perhaps actively?"

"You have to talk with him personally. I don't make the decision for him when his ability is involved. He would never let me take control away from him. Whatever Harry decides, you should honour his decision. And I will stand behind him. He already lost so much, and he went through too much in his young life. You are my Lord, Marvolo, but I will stand with Harry _against_ you if needed."

"You would quit my service for the boy?" Marvolo looked surprised at Severus. They were more than Lord and one of his Lieutenants, Severus had been irreplaceable since he joined him, the youngest Potion Master in Europe, a brilliant mind and strategist. Without him, he would not have been able to take Hogwarts and root out Dumbledore and his order. Beside Severus, only a few had the liberty to call him Marvolo and argue with him.

"Yes, if Harry doesn't want to utilize his ability for you, in whatever form, and wants to stay out of everything, I will support him. And if necessary, I will withdraw from your service, in cases like you trying to force Harry by using me for example." Severus held his gaze fiercely.

Marvolo nodded. This was one of the character traits he appreciated highly in Severus, his hard to earn, fierce loyalty.

"Send for me when he wakes if you think he will talk about his vision in my presence. If not, I will talk with him after your conversation. There is nothing we can do now."

Severus nodded and understood the dismissal.

"If you want my presence during the discussion with Lucius, call for me."

"That would be for the best, you can talk from experience with these kinds of wizards."

"Very well. Goodnight, Marvolo."

"Goodnight, Severus."

Marvolo drained his teacup and closed his eyes. It had been an interesting evening and mind-blowing conversation. Now, he only had to decide how to handle the little Seer.

* * *

Harry's consciousness rose slowly. He felt groggy and the pounding in his head signalled a nasty headache. His eyelids felt too heavy to open, and his throat was too dry to even try speaking. But he must have made some sound, because warm hands lifted his head and poured a potion down his throat. The headache faded away. Then, the pleasant aroma of peppermint tea filled his nose and he happily opened his mouth. After a few gulps he opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. The room he was in was only dimly lit, so it only took a few seconds till his eyes adjusted and he could focus on his surroundings. A throat being cleared shifted his attention to his side.

Severus sat at his bedside, looking concerned. "How are you feeling?"

Harry shifted his attention to his body and took inventory. "Like a Hippogriff trampled all over me." His whole body was throbbing with dull pain, and his stomach area felt sore and tender. He tried to lift his arms but had not the strength for it.

"No wonder, this vision was the longest I had witnessed so far, and your reaction after you came out of it was particularly violent. You lost a lot of blood, which didn't help," Severus informed him, handing him a general pain-reliever potion, which Harry downed immediately. The pain subsided in an instant and he sighed, relieved. Severus regarded him with another intense look.

"What was the vision about Harry? Do you want to talk about it? Lord Slytherin asked if he could be part of this conversation."

Harry gnawed on his lower lip, trying to recall the vision. His mind was still a little hazy.

"It was about… the Hogwarts express… yes, the students left for the holidays… and…" _Dumbledore… Draco…_ Harry went pale and scrambled out of the bed. He rushed as fast as he could to the door of the room he was in and tore it open, ignoring Severus' protest. His mind told him that he had been sleeping in one of the single rooms of the hospital, before he smashed into a tall figure blocking his way. Strong arms caught him before he could fall.

"Easy there," a smooth deep voice cut through his frantic thoughts. Harry looked up and all his thoughts vanished in shock as he found crimson red eyes gaze down on him. He had literary run into Lord Slytherin, the most powerful wizard in Great Britain.

"Harry, what is wrong?" Severus stepped up to them and brought Harry out of his shock.

"What time it is? Did the Hogwarts Express already leave?" he hastily asked.

His mind was still in chaos, but he did not miss the look the two wizards before him exchanged.

"It is nearly lunch time. The Hogwarts Express left shortly after breakfast. Harry, what is wrong?" Severus asked again with concern but also insistence.

"We have to stop him… get the students back… Dumbledore… the rebels, they are waiting at King's Cross. It's a trap." Harry stumbled over the words, frantic to get his message across. Severus and Lord Slytherin understood immediately and had a short conversation without words.

Severus led Harry back to bed and called Madam Pomfrey.

"We will handle it Harry. You warned us early enough, the Hogwarts Express will not reach London till the late afternoon. Rest." With a reassuring squeeze at his shoulder, Severus left and Madam Pomfrey forced a calming draught on him, which had the result that Harry fell asleep only moments later.

* * *

The boy's warning in mind, Marvolo send out an emergency call via the Dark Mark to his inner circle as he walked to the Great Hall.

They arrived only moments later, shortly after Severus had slipped into the Great Hall.

"We got reliable and urgent information that Dumbledore and the rebels will try to take hold of the students after they depart the Hogwarts Express at King's cross. We don't know what they want with the students." He saw several pale at this information, Narcissa Malfoy and Persephone Parkinson among them.

"We will use this plan against them. As we have several hours till the train will arrive at its destination, we can set a trap. Barty, you as Headmaster can actively interfere in the magic of the Hogwarts Express. You will stop the train. Which of you has a tracking spell on their children?" Several witches raised their hand.

"Wonderful. When the train is stopped, please localize your children and apparate to them. If you are able to side-apparate, take as many with you as you can. Then activate your mark, so that the rest can follow. Lucius, Severus and myself, we will produce enough portkeys to evacuate the children to Hogwarts. Narcissa and Persephone, you will stay with them at Hogwarts and prepare the hospital wing for any casualties with Madam Pomfrey. The rest of us will board the train and call the fighters from the second circle to our aid." Everyone nodded in confirmation. Then, a shrewd grin touched his lips and Marvolo turned to Severus as he had an idea.

"Severus, how much Polyjuice potion do you have in stock?"

"The sixth years are brewing it at the moment. As I wanted them to see and feel the effect at the beginning of the lecture, I have a whole batch in storage."

"Good, very good," Marvolo smirked. "We will use the potion, every one of you will take the appearance of one of the students. We will see what Dumbledore wants from them. As long as you are under the potion's effect, behave appropriately. No spells before the rebels cast themselves. I want as many attackers taken alive as possible. Brief your people from the second circle accordingly." With a short nod from Marvolo, everyone sprang into action.

Severus left in the direction of his potion lab. He had to talk with Harry afterwards, to know what could have happened. But first, they had a trap to prepare. Dumbledore would not know what hit him.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Many thanks for GeMerope for helping to improve my grammar and spelling.

First published: 6th of May 2018

Last edited: 27th of May 2019


	5. Platform 9 three-quarter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN** : Thanks to you all for the wonderful reviews and to all who followed and favoured. I am really happy that you all seem to enjoy reading what my mind comes up with.

Somehow this chapter was awfully hard to write, especially the action/fight. Finally, Marvolo and Dumbledore meet! And how will Harry react when he is awake again?

I am grateful for questions, remarks, grammar and spelling correction messages, so review or PM me.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope** , many many thanks and hugs and kisses to her.

Have fun reading and please review.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Platform 9 ¾**

Harry's consciousness floated at the border of awaking for quite some time before he came to be aware of the voices. They sounded familiar.

He slowly opened his eyes as his mind shook off the last remnants of sleep. Looking around, he registered that he was in the same hospital wing room he had awoken in before, and he was alone. Where were the voices coming from?

A small ray of light caught his eyes, coming from the not completely closed door. Harry carefully moved out of the bed, his body sluggish from too much sleep. He was happy to realize that there was no lingering pain anymore. He had slept enough to shake off the last remains of the vision's aftereffect. He tiptoed to the door. The voices grew louder, and Harry could finally identify who it was.

"But mother, he is my friend, why am I not allowed to see him?" Draco whinged. Harry suppressed a chuckle, his friend sounded like a five-year-old who did not get his ice cream.

"Draco, stop this whining immediately. It is not fitting of a Malfoy. Firstly, Mr. Potter is still sleeping, and Madame Pomfrey doesn't want you to disturb him. Secondly, he went through a terrible ordeal, which left him physically and magically exhausted. Lord Slytherin told Persephone and me what transpired. We don't know what exactly he saw and how it will affect him. All records on Blood Seer are lost, so we can only work with the experience Severus gathered in the last years. You can talk with him after he woke up and Madam Pomfrey or Persephone declare him fit enough. But don't pressure him to talk about his ability. We owe him, Draco. Who knows what would have happened if he didn't warn us. Severus and Lord Slytherin also want to talk with him when they are back," Mrs Malfoy reprimanded her son.

"But…"

"No but. Now go and help the teachers to reassure the younger years."

"Yes mother." Draco sighed, Harry heard retreating footsteps and then the door of the hospital wing opening and closing.

He was safe! Draco was safe!

Harry slid down the wall beside the door and tried to catch his breath, relief washed over him.

He remembered waking up and talking with Severus… the terror as he remembered the vision… red eyes… oh Merlin, he had run into the most powerful wizard in Britain (or the world? Who knew…)

But he had delivered a warning, as clipped as it had been, and it seemed that Severus and Lord Slytherin had understood. If Draco was here and Mrs Malfoy talked as if the younger years were also here, the students were safe. Safe from Dumbledore.

Harry rested his head on his knees in relief.

His vision would not come true.

Then, he stiffened. Yes, it was good that he delivered the warning, but it also meant that they knew now. They knew about his ability, about his visions. Lord Slytherin wanted to talk with him… oh Salazar…

 _They knew!_

 _Oh Merlin… they knew!_

Harry scrambled to his feet. He had to leave. _They knew._ Where to go he did not know, but he could not stay here. The memories from the last time somebody beside Severus knew what he was, was too vivid in his mind.

 _They knew. They knew. They knew. They knew._

Panic erased his rational mind. He opened the door and ran through the hospital wing, not even registering if someone was there. Only vaguely did he register the cold of the stone floor beneath his bare feet as he scrambled through the castle corridors.

 _Theyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheyknew_

He tried to calm his frantic thoughts, but they were like a maelstrom. His breathing was becoming erratic. _They knew…_

Coming to an abrupt halt, Harry used the wall beside him to remain upright. He was trembling violently, and his breath came out in short, painful gasps. His vision went blurry and Harry knew he had to get his panic under control.

Shoving all other thoughts aside, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the air filling his lungs, panic would not help him. In and out, in and out. Slowly, his breathing stabilised, and the maelstrom of thoughts calmed down. It felt like hours till he opened his eyes again, still terrified but not in a full-blown panic attack.

 _They knew._ _I have to leave._

Looking around, he realized his panic-induced flight had led him near the grand staircases. He hesitated.

What now? He could not go to their quarters. Not even to get some things. He had to leave, _now_.

He mused, gnawing on his bottom lip in worry, listening to the noises around him. It seemed he had been lucky so far and nobody had seen him leaving the hospital wing. But his luck would not hold forever.

What should he do? Where should he go?

Harry shivered. The corridors of the castle were cold, especially during the harsh Scottish winter. Perhaps it would not be a good idea to leave the castle, clad only in hospital wing pyjamas…but hiding somewhere in the castle was also not an option. They would find him.

Standing there, shivering, Harry was struck by an idea. Yes, that would work.

Decision made, he hurried down to the ground floor and ran through the entrance hall to the castle doors. As he stepped outside, the harsh, cold December wind nearly made him falter in his decision.

" _Oh Harry, my poor boy, I know it hurts, but don't be afraid. You are such a gift to us, you are helping a lot of people. For the Greater Good_ , _we all have to make sacrifices."_ The memory of this sickly soothing voice brought him back.

He shivered. He could practically feel the knife on his skin.

Gritting his teeth, he descended the castle stairs and made his way over the grounds, the cold of the snow biting into his naked feet, towards the Whomping Willow, which greeted him eagerly.

During his first year staying at Hogwarts, he had often wandered the grounds, marvelled by his freedom to do so. During one of those days, he had sat near the tree, had listened to the sound of the wind in its leaves and had talked with it. And the tree had answered, in a way. It had showered him in leaves to make him laugh and when he stepped nearer, wrapping him from head to toe in its branches, like a full body hug.

The Whomping Willow only reacted violently when it felt threatened and, like an animal, it knew when you were afraid of it. As Harry always had acted calm around the tree, they somehow had formed an unconventional friendship of sorts. And one day, when he was sitting comfortably against its trunk, he had made a discovery.

Muttering a hello to the Willow and patting some of its branches, Harry slowly walked to the tree's trunk and slid into the concealed opening of a passage between the roots. The tunnel beneath it was low-ceiled and even with his short height he had to hunch over to walk through the tunnel. At the end, he stepped into the dirty and dusty inside of the Shrieking Shack.

Harry sighed; he had never told Severus that he had found this tunnel. He carefully stepped around the broken furniture and went to the second floor. He was freezing, he could not feel his feet or hands anymore, and even if he was out of the wind in the Shack, it did nothing against the cold. So, he slipped under the moth-eaten, dusty duvet on the impressive four-poster bed in one of the rooms upstairs. Pulling his knees to his chest, he curled into a ball for warmth and listened to the howling of the wind around the Shack.

Nobody knew he was here, nobody would find him.

Later, he would sneak into the village, steal some warmer cloth and then vanish into the Muggle world. Yes, he would do this… later when he was warm again. Exhausted and trembling, Harry fell into a restless sleep, full of nightmares about an old man with a long white beard, about horrifying visions, about cold steel against his skin, again and again.

* * *

The plan had been set in action without a problem. Barty had activated the magic to stop the Hogwarts Express (which was protected by so many spells and charms and linked to Hogwarts itself, that nobody could stop, find and track it beside the headmaster) from his office and the parents with tracking spells on their children had apparated to them. The children had not been overjoyed to know of the charm. The rest of the inner circle had been called to the destination following the Dark Mark. Marvolo had explained to the students what would happen.

The second circle was called to them and Yaxley, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, discussed with Lucius how the Aurors should be involved. A message was sent to the Head Auror to stand on call around King's Cross, without alerting the rebels and the muggles.

After Severus had distributed the vials with Polyjuice-Potion and every adult had a hair of the student they would impersonate, the children were evacuated via Portkeys. Not without complains, especially from the older years, the loudest of them Lucius' heir. Narcissa and Persephone accompanied them and some of the teachers had stayed behind to receive them.

Then, Marvolo had given Barty, who had stayed behind in the Headmaster's office, the signal via the Dark Mark to start the train again. Now they waited. They still had a train ride of a few hours till London and most of them were bored by now. Why had they been so excited as a student to take the train? There was nothing to do, it was utterly dull.

Marvolo used the time to muse over the revelation of the last twenty-four hours. He had not felt that excited in quite some time. To discover an ancient and presumed extinct magical gift… there was so much to learn, so much to consider. The thought of the upcoming fight with his old nemesis, and Marvolo was sure there would be a fight, made him supress a grin full of gleeful anticipation.

Shortly before they reached London, everyone took the potion on Marvolo's signal.

"Remember, no spells without my signal. If it gets violent, try to refrain from killing them. I want as many of the rebels alive as possible. Don't even try to take on Dumbledore. I will deal with him."

From an onlooker point of view, it would have looked hilarious how a small army of students stood there in the Hogwarts's Express, all different ages, from tiny eleven-year-olds to seventeen-year-olds with serious expressions. Or most of them, even in disguise Bellatrix was easy to identify. It was certainly not normal for a little third-year with huge innocent eyes to look that maniacal and bloodthirsty.

"Bellatrix, please stay out of sight at the beginning. Your acting skills are horrendous, and you would immediately blow our cover." Marvolo ordered, which led to a grumpy and pouting Bellatrix.

Marvolo fixated his people with a serious expression. They all felt when the train started to slow down, rolling into King's Cross.

"Lucius, you and Severus will stand with me at the front. When Dumbledore appears with his old nemesis please remember, _you are students_. Place the younger ones at the back. No killing curses. Don't waste your time with _crucio_. Hit hard and fast."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Marvolo saw that Lucius, in the body of his son, and Severus, as Draco's best friend Zabini, were trying hard not to laugh despite the serious situation. He sighed, perhaps he should not have chosen the Head Girl as a cover. Tessa Morgan was known to be fierce and bold for a Slytherin. She was magically powerful, and he hoped his cover would not be immediately blown when he cast the first spells. But Ms Morgan was also petite, with big grey eyes and long shiny black hair, and looked a little like a doll. So, in the moment, he did not present an impressive and commanding figure.

The train stopped. Marvolo looked again at his people around him.

"Remember, _you are students!_ "

The doors opened, and they exited the train and stepped on the platform. Which was void of people. Marvolo saw how everyone tried to look surprised, not entirely convincing. He sighed inwardly, he really hoped Dumbledore was fooled by their abysmal acting skills, even if it was only for a few moments.

They started whispering between each other as they saw no one. Marvolo, Lucius and Severus shifted towards each other and kept the entrance to the platform in their line of sight, so they were the first to register the movement there.

"Welcome to you all, my dear children." The cheerful voice of Dumbledore rose over the whispers.

The all turned to the old wizard, clad in hideous purple robes with golden snitches, who stood at the entrance of the platform, beaming at them. From the corner of his eye, Marvolo saw the ones impersonating older students come to the front, pushing the "younger" ones behind them. Nobody had to feign the shudders when the light caught the golden snitches on the awful robes, making them sparkle.

Wands were drawn.

"No, you don't have to be afraid," Dumbledore tried to sooth them, a serene smile on his face, his eyes twinkling… how Marvolo hated those twinkling eyes.

Nobody reacted.

"I am here to help you, to give you a choice." Dumbledore was still smiling.

"And tell, what would this choice entail?" at Marvolo's side Draco, or rather Lucius, spoke up, sounding very much like his son. A good question. He had to congratulate Lucius on his acting skills… He studied him for a few seconds, without losing Dumbledore from his line of sight. Perhaps Lucius did not need to act.

"You could come with me, join us, help us to rid this world of a monster. A tyrant who wants to dictate everything, who is holding you and the entire Wizarding population of Great Britain as hostages. Join us, and you will fight for a better future, not only for you but all the generations to come. A future where you can make your own choices." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like crazy now.

Marvolo looked offended at him. Yes, he ruled through the Wizengamot and the Ministry with an iron fist, even if he was not the Minister himself (too much paperwork), but he was not a maniacal tyrant. And yes, he sometimes solved problems with violence, if there was no other way. But he was not a bloodthirsty monster. He wanted to preserve the wizarding world and bring it forward, not destroy it.

Dumbledore was still talking to them. "Who is he to regulate your contact with the Muggle world? Why should Muggle-borns cut off most of their connection with the Muggle part of their heritage? Why should they lose their childhood among their families and friends in the Muggle World only to learn the old traditions? Why should we not welcome the new traditions and holidays from the Muggle-borns? Think about it, my dear children. A dictator reigns Wizarding Britain, and he strives to regulate everything. He filters the knowledge coming from the Muggle world. But they have made great new discoveries and inventions, which could benefit us all. If we stay like this, our society will stagnate. Marriages are now encouraged mostly on blood status and are means to bring new blood into the old bloodlines. Whyshouldn't you be able to marry whoever you want, regardless of blood status?"

Marvolo sighed. It seemed the old man still held onto his love for muggles and it seemed he did not see or comprehend even one of the achievements Marvolo had accomplished. Exposing the wizarding world to the Muggle world would be disastrous, the wizards were so little in number compared to the Muggles. And Marvolo had seen what Muggle weaponry could do and how Muggles treated everyone who did not fit into their world view. They feared what they did not understand, and what they feared they destroyed. Wizard and witches would not stand one chance if the Muggles would discover the magical world.

The separation was needed and vital.

Dumbledore started to pace in front of them.

"The man who stands behind the Ministry and controls it, is not a human anymore. He slipped too deep into the Dark Arts, mutilating himself as a human being. He even allows you, innocent and pure children, to learn the highly dangerous Dark Arts at school. Do you really want to follow a monster? You are the future of magical Britain, and we want to help you to have the future you want." Here Dumbledore paused and looked expectantly at them.

Now Marvolo was pissed. He was certainly human, thank you very much. He was the most powerful wizard in the world and very proficient in the Dark Arts, but this did not make him into a non-human monster.

None of them made a sound. Dumbledore's face fell, and he looked disappointed.

"I see, his brainwashing ideology already took roots." Now the old wizard looked sad, he sighed and closed his eyes as if he was in great pain. Marvolo had to congratulate him for his acting skills.

"If it is like this, I am sorry, but I can't let you return to your parents and later to Hogwarts. I can't let him mould you into his perfect little puppets with a clear conscience. He would only use you against me in the future." He sighed again. Now Marvolo was really angry, how dare Dumbledore imply he would mould the students in little puppets! Children who were the future of the wizarding Britain. He did not need brainless little puppets.

"Nobody wants to come with me? Join us! Fight for a better future!" He held out his hands expectantly and as nobody moved, he shook his head sadly.

"For the Greater Good, I can't allow him to use you, and if you are not willing to help me, then I have to make sure you can't be used by him."

Marvolo shared a suspicious look with Severus and Lucius beside him, which was a little disconcerting when he saw the typical Severus sneer on the handsome face of the sixteen-year-old Zabini. What was Dumbledore playing at? Would he really kidnap or kill innocent students? Knowing that all parents would be out for his blood? Knowing that with this move he would have most of magical Britain against him?

Marvolo shook his head. Was the old man getting senile? Dumbledore had always been a brilliant strategist, he was far from dumb. But this… this was a really _dumb_ move.

What was that supposed to achieve?

Suddenly, there were other people there, behind Dumbledore. Wands were raised on both sides.

"Don't be afraid, you will be not hurt. We only want to bring you to a safe location. Perhaps we even can undo the brainwashing." Taking in the cheerful expression on Dumbledore's face, Marvolo was sure that the old man had lost his marbles.

Nobody in his right mind would come up with such a ridiculous plan. What would he do with the students? Keep them as hostages? Brainwash them? It looked more like Dumbledore would do everything he accused Marvolo of.

He saw the moment Dumbledore realized that nobody believed him. He saw the movements behind the old wizard, felt the presence of many other wizards.

Then, the first spells were cast towards them. Marvolo sneered as he cast a powerful _Protego Maxima_ and reflected the stunning spells back to the casters. More and more spells flew from the rebels, none of them harmful or dark, they were aimed to disarm and overpower the students without bloodshed.

He saw the surprise in Dumbledore's face and suppressed a cackle – oh, how he loved to see this expression on the old man's face.

He gave a sign behind his back and suddenly there were spells fired from behind him, taking the rebels by surprise.

 _They_ had no qualms to use darker spells, spells meant to incapacitate as fast as possible by any means needed.

The fight started for real.

Marvolo concentrated on Dumbledore and sent a silent _Sectumsempra,_ followed immediately by a blasting curse and a cutting curse.

Dumbledore was brought out of his stunned bewilderment and deflected the curses but hesitated to retaliate. Their deception worked, so far Dumbledore had not discovered that they all were - in fact - not really students.

Marvolo instantly took advantage of Dumbledore's hesitation and sent in quick order blood-boiling-, cutting and bone-crushing curses with a flick of his wand, while circulating his opponent.

Even in this body, he felt his magic leap in excitement, curling around him, eager to be used.

Around them, chaos erupted, curses and spells flew through the air. Screams and shouts filled the platform. When he saw some more people spilling onto the platform from the entrance to the Muggle train station, Marvolo knew that the Aurors had arrived, cutting off the escape routes. He did not look around, he knew his people could and would handle it. _His_ prey was before him, Dumbledore was far too dangerous to be allowed to live.

And finally, the old wizard seemed to realize what was going on as he struggled to deflect the powerful curses Marvolo sent after him without a pause.

Marvolo smirked and stepped closer.

"Are you going to fight, or will you surrender, Dumbledore? You don't stand a chance, you are outnumbered."

The old wizard looked around shortly and Marvolo saw the realization hit him, his eyes going wide as he stared at him.

"Tom…"

"Not Tom anymore, old man. I am Marvolo, Lord Marvolo Slytherin if you remember." Marvolo sent another quick order of curses at Dumbledore, who deflected some of them and sidestepped the others.

The walked around each other, wands raised, casting spells and curses in rapid succession. The air was charged with so much magical energy that the hair on Marvolo's arms were standing up. He felt the adrenaline running through his veins, felt the absolute thrill to fight against someone who could match him. Combined with the hatred he felt for the man, it was an exciting mixture of emotions.

He sent another curse, which Dumbledore deflected with a conjured silvery shield.

For a few minutes it seemed they were even, but Marvolo was younger, quicker on his feet (especially in this small body) and did not hesitate to use every curse in his arsenal. Whereas Dumbledore always had been a fool to stick to the so called light spells.

Marvolo sidestepped a few stunners and binding curses and answered with the nightmare curse, which was deflected by Dumbledore with a flick of his wand.

Curses flew and were absorbed by shields.

 _Avada Kedavra_ was sidestepped and answered with _Petrificus Totalus._

Marvolo sneered and the curse bounced harmlessly from his conjured shield.

 _Fiendfyre_ was answered with a variation of _Aguamenti_ Marvolo had never seen before, which mildly impressed him.

He conjured a fiery snake which attacked Dumbledore, hissing furiously.

The old man vanished with a swirl of his robes and emerged behind the fire snake, binding her with watery robes.

The snake evaporated, leaving only cold mist behind.

"What are you doing here Tom?" Dumbledore tried to distract him and maintained his powerful façade. But Marvolo could see behind it, saw the exhaustion, the tiredness… the _age_.

"Preventing you from harming innocent Hogwarts students," Marvolo answered while casting a silent _Confringo_ , which was deflected by the old wizard with another powerful shield charm.

Dumbledore looked insulted.

"I would never harm innocents. Adults, students and children alike."

"And what did you want to achieve here today? Kidnap them and take them hostage? Confine them against their will? Keep them away from their families? And you claimed _I_ was the monster. From their point of view, you are the monster. We prevent this from happening. We protected them, I protected them and now they are all safe in Hogwarts." He smirked at Dumbledore smugly. How he loved to taunt the old man.

Dumbledore risked a brief glance around him again.

"So, these are all…?"

"Yes, all my men. Not one student departed today from the Hogwarts Express here." Marvolo sent a bone-crushing curse to Dumbledore's right side, who stepped aside only to be caught by the cutting curse Marvolo had sent immediately at his left side, leaving a long and deep cut from the elbow to the shoulder.

"And how did you know we were coming?" Dumbledore did not seem to mind the blood dripping from his now useless left arm. He frowned and only looked at the long gash, then something shifted in his face and he stared at Marvolo. "Ah, I see… you were warned, am I correct? You have Harry."

Something must have shown on Marvolo's face, because Dumbledore looked at him, disappointed.

"Tom, you should not use Harry like this. He is just a boy, a boy without any magic. His ability is only a burden to him. He is not a tool."

Marvolo narrowed his eyes in anger and sent another succession of curses at Dumbledore while circling him. Brandishing his wand with a fluid movement, Marvolo used a combination of dark spells and hit Dumbledore at his left shoulder, leaving it a painful mass of broken bones, torn muscles and crushed tissue, without injuring the skin at all.

Dumbledore winced and stumbled backwards. His arm hanging uselessly at his side.

"How _dare_ you imply I use the boy like this! From what I learned so far, it was _you_ and your people who abused him, exploited his ability without his consent and against his will. No wonder he hid from you," Marvolo hissed at the Leader of the rebels. Theoretically he did not know this exactly, only what Severus could deduce from the boy's behaviour, but as he saw the pained face of Dumbledore, he knew he was correct. Fury filled him, no magical child should be treated like a tool, fury which he channelled into a powerful blasting curse, catching Dumbledore up front and throwing him into the wall.

Yes, he wanted the ability to be used for his benefits, but not without the consent of the owner. He would never _force_ the boy, but he would do everything he could to convince the Little Seer. Manipulation, bribery, he would see what worked best.

Marvolo stalked towards the fallen wizard, who used the wall to get up again and looked at him with sadness.

"You don't have to lie to me, Tom. I know your true nature. Naturally you would use such a handy tool within your reach." Dumbledore sighed. "I see we are at a disadvantage, so until next time, Tom." With a snap if his fingers, his phoenix materialised next to him and before Marvolo or anyone could react he touched the bird and vanished, and with him the rebels who were still conscious.

Marvolo frowned and starred at the spot Dumbledore had vanished from. The old man was slippery as an eel. Sighing, he looked around and assessed the situation.

The fight had been fast but hard, the Polyjuice-Potion only started to wear off. The platform was covered with debris. Some of his people assisted the injured ones, apparated them to Hogwarts, he presumed. Others talked with the Aurors. He walked through the stone rubble to the latter group, surrounding the rebels they could catch. All of them were bound by ropes and unconscious, a great deal of them injured. The Head Auror saw him coming and bowed.

"We could detain fifteen rebels. A lot of them well known. Should we bring them to the dungeons in Hogwarts or the holding cells in the ministry?"

Marvolo acknowledged the man with a short nod and addressed Lucius beside him as he identified the captives.

"Transfer most of them to the holding cells in the Ministry and send me the reports of their interrogations. Only these two," he gestured to two very notable persons "will be brought to Hogwarts. I want to interrogate them personally." He already looked forward to these certainly interesting conversations. Lucius smirked at his side and gestured to two Aurors who apparated the two rebels away.

After the captives had been apparated away, the clean-up team arrived. Looking over the destroyed platform, Marvolo was pleased with the outcome. The damage was confined to the magical part of King's cross, no students had been involved, they had only three dead to mourn, only five of the sustained injuries were life-threatening and they had managed to catch two of Dumbledore's best fighters.

Marvolo could not prevent a gleeful smile. The day could have ended in a disaster of colossal dimensions, but thanks to the warning from the little Seer, it ended in a victory for them. He apparated back to Hogwarts, leaving Lucius behind to handle the rest and hoping the Seer was awake. They had an important talk before them.

* * *

Severus groaned as the Polyjuice-Portion wore off. Finally. He really did not like the body of Blaise Zabini, it had felt wrong. He could see Lucius talking to the Aurors and the Head of the clean-up team, which already had started to restore Platform 9 ¾. He searched for Marvolo and caught a glimpse of him as he apparated away. Severus sighed and strolled to Lucius. He had a suspicion were his Lord had apparated to.

"Lucius, I will return to Hogwarts if you don't need me here anymore. I am sure our Lord wants to talk to my ward and as I know Harry, it would be better for me to be there," he informed him.

Lucius gave him an enquiring look and nodded. Severus chuckled darkly.

"I only want to make sure Hogwarts will survive. Harry is stubborn and has a temper to rival our Lord." He laughed at the incredulous expression on Lucius' face and apparated away.

As he made his way from the apparition point outside of the castle wards over the snow-covered grounds to the entrance, Severus hoped Harry would keep his temper in check. It was never a good idea to anger the most powerful dark wizard Britain had seen since Salazar Slytherin. He was not exactly sure what Marvolo wanted from his ward. He had a guess, but of the details he was not sure. Harry's standpoint was harder to guess, he was really conflicted regarding his ability. For one thing, he dreaded to be used merely as a tool and hated his ability on a certain level, on the other hand he always tried to prevent the negative vision from coming true.

And he was worried for Harry. What had the vision actually entailed? He only hoped he had not woken up and did something stupidly Gryffindor while they had handled the situation.

Severus sighed as he made his way to the Hospital Wing, catching up with his Lord shortly before they arrived there, who nodded at him.

"I was sure you would catch up, Severus. I have a proposition for you ward and I really hope he will agree. But I think he would be more comfortable with you present." Marvolo addressed him.

Severus nodded to him and opened the doors. The infirmary was filled with people. Some on the beds, others hurrying between them. Madam Pomfrey and Mrs Parkinson looked up from what they were doing as they heard the sound of the door closing. Mediwitch and healer wrapped up their business and approached the two wizards afterwards.

"My Lord." Mrs Parkinson curtsied. "The last injured arrived only a few moments ago. We could stabilize all five heavily injured men, but we could not prevent one from losing his left hand and one his right eye. But they are all out of danger. Most of the ones brought here will be out by tomorrow."

"Very good. Thank you, Persephone," Marvolo nodded to the healer. "Did Mr. Potter wake up in the meantime?" he enquired.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head.

"The last time I checked on him, two hours ago, he was still asleep."

"Very well, please see if he is awake and if not, Severus and I will wait in his room till he wakes."

Madame Pomfrey hurried to one of the separated single rooms in the hospital wing, with Marvolo and Severus behind her, walking slowly through the rows of beds, both men registering who had been injured.

A quiet gasp snapped their attention back to Madam Pomfrey, who was standing in the doorframe to the room Harry had been placed in. Severus quickened his steps.

"What happened?" He looked over her shoulder and saw nobody in the bed or in the room. Marvolo stepped beside him and looked into the empty room. Both men spoke at the same time.

"Where is Harry?" "Where is Mr. Potter?"

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 23rd of May 2018

Last edited: 9th of June 2019


	6. A proposal

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own Harry Potter or anything belonging to this universe. I merely like to play in J.K. Rowling's playground.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN:** Thanks to you all for the wonderful reviews and for everyone who favoured and followed. It makes me immensely happy that there are people who read and like what I write.

It took me a little longer to write this chapter than I originally anticipated, but real life happened... but now here it is.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the marvellous **GeMerope.**

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: A proposal**

After confirming that Mr. Potter was definitely not in his hospital room or anywhere else in the infirmary, Severus used the fireplace in Madam Pomfrey's office to check their quarters. He shook his head as he came back to the infirmary where Marvolo and Madam Pomfrey had waited.

"He is not there. And none of his things are missing. He must have sneaked out before the casualties arrived. I assume he woke up and panicked, remembering that he revealed his Seer abilities. I hoped he would sleep longer, I expected him to worry and be anxious, but to panic and run…" Severus trailed off.

"Nothing is missing, Severus? That means the boy is somewhere out there in only his infirmary pyjamas? We have December, it is freezing outside and snowing!" Madam Pomfrey sounded horrified.

Marvolo listened to them both while he called some of the inner circle with the Dark Mark and some others via his Patronus. He smirked as his silvery serpent left to deliver the message. Dumbledore had once declared that no Dark Wizard could produce a Patronus. The day Marvolo proved him wrong, was one of his fond memories which he used to fuel the Patronus spell.

Only moments later, the door to the hospital wing opened and several people stepped in. Madame Pomfrey directed them towards her office, to not disturb her patients. Severus immediately addressed Lucius' son, who looked slightly bewildered by why he was summoned to the hospital wing.

"Draco, did you see Harry today?"

Now the boy looked even more confused and a little alarmed.

"I tried to visit him after I arrived at Hogwarts, but Madam Pomfrey and my mother didn't allow it. So no, I didn't see him since yesterday evening." He looked from Severus to Marvolo and back. Both men kept their faces blank, but Marvolo saw the worry rising in Severus and could not supress his own unease.

"What is with Harry?" Their mask certainly had slipped if a sixteen-year-old could see through them, because the Malfoy heir looked now worried, realizing that something was amiss.

"He is missing," Severus informed him. "He is neither in the hospital wing, nor in our quarters. Do you have an idea where he could have gone? I think he is in panic and terrified; it would be someplace he thinks I don't know. Somewhere he can hide."

The Malfoy heir looked at him with shock and worry.

"Why would he run? I read about Seers like him, how respected and even worshipped they once were… wouldn't he be happy not to be considered a Squib anymore? We never could associate outside of your quarters or the potions lab, but now…" the boy trailed off.

"He never mentioned were he liked to go to be alone or think? Or an interesting place he discovered?" Severus enquired intensely.

The Malfoy heir shook his head.

"Not really. Harry told me he liked to spend time in the library. But if he wanted to be alone he went to his room."

While Severus asked a few more questions, Marvolo ordered the other people present to search the castle, who had listened quietly to the conversation so far.

"You can try and use a localisation and search spell. As the Blood Seer's magic is not located in his core, we don't know how well they are functioning, but theoretically he _has_ a magical signature which should be trackable." Lucius, Narcissa, Regulus, Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan all nodded. Narcissa was the only one who let her worry shine through her calm demeanour.

As she was also a mother and knew what role Mr Potter had played in preventing her son walking into Dumbledore's trap, she certainly had an interest of the Seer's wellbeing. The men did not show anything in their expression, and nobody knew exactly what Bellatrix felt at any time anywhere.

"It could be that if you find the boy, he will be a panic attack, don't approach him but call for Severus or me. Do not try to take him with you by force. And whatever you do, _do not hurt him_. Every little damage to his skin, every small wound could throw him into a vision. We don't know in what condition he is, and a vision would be detrimental anyway at the moment." Even Bellatrix looked slightly serious and concerned now, or as concerned and serious as she could look.

Marvolo glanced at Rodolphus and made it quite clear that his wife was not to be left alone. You could never know what the crazy witch would come up with if she found the Seer - Merlin knew what she would do. Rodolphus inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment and followed the others.

As everybody left the office, Marvolo shifted his attention back to Severus and Lucius' son.

"Did Harry ever mention that he went to Hogsmeade without me?"

The boy shook his head.

"No, every time I tried to invite him, he declined. I always found it strange why he only wanted to go with you, as if he thought it was not safe with only underage wizards… ", the Slytherin student looked uncomfortable revealing this much. Marvolo was certain this was exactly why the Seer only ever left Hogwarts with Severus, his fear of being discovered and taken by the rebels seemed to be too prominent.

Severus sighed. "This does not lead us further; he could be everywhere. He knows his way around the Forbidden Forest, who knows what hideouts he found there."

The Malfoy heir looked glum. "The only other place Harry ever mentioned was the grounds around the lake and the Whomping Willow. He liked to sit near the Willow to be precise, because normally the students don't wander there, so it was a quiet, undisturbed place. And something about the tree being not as violent as everybody presumed. But I don't know how that could help, there is nowhere to hide there."

As the boy spoke, Severus, who had turned around to leave the office and search for his ward, stopped, his head snapping back to the student.

"The Whomping Willow?" he asked in a near whisper.

"Yes." The Malfoy heir cocked his head slightly in confusion.

"I think I know where he is," Severus actually whispered now, his face going pale. He left the office in a hurry, not caring who followed, his robes billowing behind him.

Marvolo nodded at the Malfoy boy, who watched the hasty leave of his teacher in surprise.

"Wait here, and if he appears, send a message." Lucius' son nodded and Marvolo left, following his first Lieutenant and Potion Master. He caught up with him in the Entrance Hall and both stepped out on the snow-covered grounds together.

The Whomping Willow had not been planted when Marvolo himself had been a student at Hogwarts, but he knew the tree from his countless visits. They stopped barely out of reach of its violent branches, which moved threateningly in their direction.

"Severus, what are we doing here?" Marvolo addressed the Potion Master.

The wizard did not answer, levitating a small branch towards the trunk instead, tapping a knot on the roots with it. To Marvolo's surprise, the Willow froze instantly, and Severus walked towards the trunk, casting a _Lumos_ for a better view as it was already getting dark, and started to explain.

"This tree was planted shortly before I started my first year as a student here at Hogwarts. It was planted to hide and guard the entrance to a secret tunnel, which leads directly to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. Once every month at the full moon, a student would use this tunnel to hide in the Shack during his transformation. The student's name was Remus Lupin and he is a werewolf. I was suspicious of him and his friends and at one full moon his friend _Sirius Black_ ," Severus sneered the name in disgust, "tricked me into following him to the Shack, where I witnessed his transformation. I only survived because another friend of them got cold feet and pulled me away. The student's name was _James Potter_ , Harry's father."

Marvolo listened to Severus while they descended into the tunnel. They both had to walk awkwardly because the ceiling was so low that they only could move stooped over. He knew about the animosity between Severus and the self-proclaimed Marauders, but this was the first time Severus shared more than a few details with him.

"I never wanted to set a foot in here again," Marvolo heard Severus mumble to himself.

After a while, they reached the Shack and both men stood up and straightened their backs with a groan. Lighting their way with their wands, they proceeded further into the rundown house. The harsh December wind was howling outside, making the Shack groan and creak, but beside this it was eerily silent, it did not sound like anything living was here. But they could see small footprints left in the dirt on the floor. It seemed they were at the right place.

The air smelled of dust and dirt.

Marvolo glanced shortly at Severus, registering the grim expression and how the other man gripped his wand fiercely, knuckles turning white. He cast _Homenum Revelio_ , scanning the entire Shack. Only one human beside their own was detected, in one of the rooms upstairs.

Nevertheless, they carefully and thoroughly checked the rooms on the ground floor before proceeding upstairs.

Both men saw the small huddle under the duvet on the old and dirty fourposter bed at the same time, but Severus was the first to reach it. He carefully lifted the blanket, finding his missing ward beneath it, unconscious or sleeping and shivering in the cold air.

"Oh Harry…" Marvolo heard him whisper as he stepped beside the man and looked down to the small body on the bed.

The Seer looked smaller and younger than he remembered, but he had not really paid attention to him before yesterday evening, and then the events had been too hectic. While Severus started casting warming and diagnostic spells to determine if they could move him safely, Marvolo took a closer look at the Seer for the first time.

He was tiny, especially now, curled up protectively, knees drawn to his chest, his arms around them and his forehead resting on them. He looked so small and vulnerable. His skin was pale, emphasised by his jet-black hair, which was in the moment trying to escape the braid it was in. His lips were already blue, as were his bare feet and hands. His breathing was flat and sounded rattled.

He sighed. The boy must have been terribly terrified to consider running in December in only pyjamas and without shoes. The Seer needed to be reassured that whatever he was _this_ afraid of would not be happening. Which could present a problem in itself.

He was not good at reassuring people.

Normally he commanded, and everyone followed. His requests were always orders in disguise. If someone did not want to do what he wanted them to do, he either bribed, killed, or manipulated them. He always got what he wanted.

He was sure he could manipulate the little Seer into doing what he wanted. But then he would have a reluctant Seer and a pissed off Potion Master, because Severus would see through his manipulation as he would insist to be present for the conversation between them.

He sighed again. Merlin forbid! He needed to be honest and keep the manipulation and threating to a minimum. But he was certain he could bribe the Seer, and he already had an idea with what. The details would matter on what would be revealed during their talk.

Meanwhile, Severus had finished casting diagnostic charms and had transfigured the old dirty and holey duvet into a thin but new blanket, without holes and layered with warming charms. He carefully wrapped his ward into them, till only his nose was visible, and lifted him into his arms.

"Is he stable enough for us to apparate?" Marvolo asked before Severus could make a step at the direction of the door.

Severus looked to him in surprise, then nodded in confirmation and Marvolo stepped closer and took his elbow.

He apparated them directly into the hallway to the infirmary, the wards letting them pass easily on Marvolo's command. Not even Barty as the Headmaster could apparate from or into Hogwarts, Marvolo as Lord _Slytherin_ and the one who updated the wards after they had taken it from Dumbledore had a far greater control over the castle than anyone else. Marvolo followed as Severus carried his precious cargo into the hospital wing, calling for the mediwitch.

Madam Pomfrey and Persephone Parkinson were immediately at his side, leading him to the room the Seer had been placed in before. The Malfoy heir trailed them worriedly. Marvolo sent the message that they found the Seer to the search party and leaned against the doorframe, observing as Severus stood aside and let the mediwitch and the healer do their work. Both witches immediately started casting different diagnostic, healing, and warming spells and forced several potions down their patient's throat.

A couple of minutes later, the Seer had warming packs all around his body and was wrapped in several blankets with warming charms. Apparently, they had found him in time to prevent permanent tissue damage due to frostbite, but he would be in the infirmary for a few days and needed to be under observation in case he developed pneumonia.

Madam Pomfrey placed charms on the boy to inform her in case his condition changed and left the room. Persephone followed her out, while Marvolo stepped into the room.

Lucius' son lingered in the doorframe. Severus gave him a short glance.

"I will tell you if his condition changes and when you can visit him." The boy nodded and understood the dismissal in Severus' words. The door shut silently behind him.

Severus settled into a chair at the bedside and dimmed the light. Marvolo conjured himself a chair and sat at the other side, both were looking at the boy on the bed (or the tip of his nose, the only visible part of him, wrapped up in all those blankets).

"Someday, he will be the death of me," Severus mumbled quietly, closing his eyes briefly.

Marvolo looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

The Potion Master leaned back in his chair and ran his hand tiredly over his face and explained in a quiet voice to not wake up the sleeping boy on the bed.

"He jumps too often into situation without thinking, but he manages to find enough cunning in him to hide from me what he is doing. Which irks me. Why can't he use that cunning to find another solution instead of running headfirst into danger?" The Potion Master sighed and looked at his ward with a mixture of fondness and irritation.

"I told you, he never could ignore whatever he saw in his visions. Since living with me, we tried to prevent as many injuries and therefore visions as we could. But accidents happen, and then there are visions we could not prevent at all. These are the ones which _want_ to be seen. They burn under his skin and in his blood and force him to make a cut. You have to ask Harry himself how exactly it feels. These visions are seldom, I witnessed two so far, the one from yesterday included." Severus sighed again.

"But even the ones from small, accidental cuts normally pushed him to do something about what he had seen. Not even two weeks ago I caught him sneaking to bed in the early mornings. He had been in the Forbidden Forest for three whole nights because he saw a young Hippogriff getting lost and killed by some of Acromantulas. He rescued it, not even thinking about his own safety. Merlin knows what could have happened." The Potions Master shook his head, clearly frustrated with his sleeping ward.

Marvolo chuckled. "Sounds like he would make a perfect Gryffindor if we would sort him."

Severus narrowed his eyes slightly and replied in a tight voice.

"I really hope I drove some of his Gryffindor tendencies out. I can't deny that he has some, both his parents were Gryffindors…"

"If I have inherited Gryffindor traits, perhaps the placement of my parental figure as the Head of House of Slytherin should be questioned," a quiet, hoarse voice interrupted them.

The heads of both men snapped to the person on the hospital bed. Sleep-glazed green eyes looked at them from inside the bundle of blankets.

* * *

Harry had been floating at the edge of awareness for some time. But it had been so cold, his brain did not want to wake up further. He barely registered the warm arms lifting him up, and he fell into unconsciousness again before his brain could even register the tell-tale signs of Apparition.

The next time he was aware of himself, he smelled the familiar odours of the hospital wing and was feeling really toasty and somehow heavy.

Then he heard voices nearby. His sluggish mind needed forever to recognize one as Severus' voice, the other one he was sure he had heard before, but he could not match the smooth dark voice with a name yet. For some time, he lay there listening, his eyelids too heavy to move, giving his brain more time to restart its function.

He was considering simply falling asleep again, but as he heard Severus talking about his Gryffindor tendencies, he simply could not stay quiet. It sounded like Severus did not even know what he was to him, the way he still connected him to his… he did not even know what he should call _them_. Certainly not parents.

He swallowed and slowly opened his still heavy eyelids.

The room was dimly lit, and he could make out two figures sitting at each of his bedsides, his brain took its time to catch up with what his eyes were seeing.

 _Lord Marvolo Slytherin_ was sitting at his bedside!

Both men's heads snapped to him as he interrupted Severus with a quiet and hoarse voice. He briefly saw the relief in Severus' face, then his expression closed off and Harry knew he was in a lot of trouble.

And as the memories of yesterday and today came back he could not even disagree with his guardian. Merlin… trying to run away… not one of his best ideas.

He looked warily at Severus as he got up from his seat and placed a hand on Harry's forehead, seemingly checking his temperature. He did not miss the glances between the two men and gulped, trying to stifle the panic coming up again.

What _was_ Lord Slytherin doing here? And dared he asked what the man wanted?

Severus was the first one to speak, fixing him with a piercing glare.

"You imbecilic dunderhead! What did you think you were doing? You could have died out there! And tell me, where did you plan to go?" He did not raise his voice, but he accentuated every word in a way that told Harry that he had been really worried, which lead to Severus now being _really_ angry.

"I…" Harry did not even know what he wanted to say, best stay with the truth. "I simply panicked."

Severus' expression did not change, but he could see a slightly softer look in his eyes.

"Yes, I realised this already," he sighed, making Harry shift in guilt. Or he would have, but the blankets tightly wrapped around him prevented him from moving at all.

"I am sorry," he said in a small voice, looking everywhere but his guardian, catching the slightly amused expression of the other man in the room.

Severus sat down again.

"I am sure you are. But Harry, did it not for one second occur to you that you could have waited and talked with me?"

"No…" Harry answered slowly, feeling stupid now. He remembered only the terrifying feeling of being discovered, the overwhelming urge to run and hide.

"And did I ever pressure you into making a decision you don't want to? Did I ever give you the feeling that your opinion was not important?"

"No…" Harry's voice grew even smaller.

"Then you should have had the faith in me to look after you in _your_ best interest in this too. Yes, the people here know now what you are. But this does not mean they will demand the same things as the rebels from you. And even if, you are not alone, you don't have to fight this alone." Severus' voice was insistent and no longer angry.

"To understand the situation, we are dealing with and why you were this terrified, we have to talk about it. I never pressured you for details, but an occurrence like today where your past throws you in a completely panicked state of mind and you act on it, can never happen again. Harry, I need to know what happened while you stayed with the rebels. I – ", Severus looked shortly at Lord Slytherin, "No, _we_ want to protect you, but we need to know from what. Will you please tell us?"

Harry looked frightened back and forth between him and Lord Slytherin, who regarded him with a serious but somehow warm look, so far as Harry could interpret the gaze from these red eyes.

"I have a proposal for you, Mr Potter. But first, I have to know what I am dealing with, and what you remember from your time with the rebels," Lord Slytherin spoke, addressing Harry for the first time.

Harry looked into the reassuring eyes of his guardian and swallowed heavily, stifling his panic down. Could he really talk about it? But he trusted Severus, and they had not immediately locked him up, as it seemed, and demanded visions from him.

Deciding to take this leap of trust, he gathered his thoughts. His voice trembled, and he felt himself shivering despite the many blankets around him, but he held the gaze of his guardian while talking, preventing the images of his memories taking hold of him.

* * *

Marvolo leaned back and observed the interactions between Severus and his ward after the latter had woken up. He could see the relief washing away the tightness in Severus' body. When the boy glanced at him he tried to look as reassuring as he could. Then, he listened attentively as the Seer told them about his life before Hogwarts.

"I had my first vision a few months before my sixth birthday. I was in the garden, weeding, and pricked my finger on Aunt Petunia's rose bush. It was not even unusual, happened quite often actually… but that time the pain was so much worse than every time before. I remember lying there crying and trembling and feeling this pressure building around me… I did not know about magic at this time… and then I had my first vision." He paused briefly, emotions flickering over his face, much too fast to read. But his voice grew steadier.

"It was about the Potters. I did not recognize them at this time as I had never seen them before… but it was them. I don't even know if I saw the past, the present or the future." The boy's voice broke a little. Marvolo filtered the spoken and especially the unspoken information away for later. The boy had not seen even a picture of his parents?

"From then on, the visions came every time I lost some blood due to an injury. It did not matter if it was only a few drops or more. My Aunt and Uncle did not know how to handle it, the screams I could not hold back due to the amplified pain and the nightmares I often had after. Most of my visions were rather violent. As they did not know what to do, they somehow contacted Dumbledore."

Marvolo could hear the sneer and disgust for the old man in the boy's voice and he could only agree. Dumbledore was a hypocritical bastard.

"It was quite a surprise when this old man suddenly was standing in the living room, telling me he would take me with him. First, I was glad, there was someone who wanted me and who explained to me what these visions meant. I already had worked out that it was connected to my blood somehow. Dumbledore told me about magic and the Potters. Explained to me why he had encouraged them to leave me at the Dursley's…" He trailed off for a moment, sounding bitter.

Not once had the Seer talked of the Potters as his parents and the way he had said that someone wanted him… Severus already had concluded that the Muggles had at least been neglectful and perhaps even hurtful towards him. And from his observation so far, Marvolo agreed.

"He made it sound like it had been for the best, especially if I had not developed Seer abilities. The first weeks with the rebels were actually quite nice. I met my godfather and other people who could tell me more about the Potters. And I was allowed to interact and play with the other children. But after some accidents in which I was wounded and had visions; they did not let me play with them again. 'You have to be carefully Harry'… 'Your abilities are too valuable'… 'It would be better if we help you handle your abilities'… 'You could be seriously hurt'... ", he mockingly imitated Dumbledore's voice, making Marvolo shudder briefly as he remembered the old man during his own school time. Even then, Marvolo had had the ability to look beyond his benevolent attitude.

"They confined me to my room and started to talk me into initiating visions whenever they thought they needed one. I was just a boy, not even seven, I wanted to help and they made me feel wanted, praising me every time I did it." The Seer's voice sounded disgusted and Marvolo could only guess that he was disgusted with himself, of being taken advantage off, of being so weak to let himself be manipulated through praise.

This was a notion he could understand, as a child at the orphanage he had felt similar, he had hated feeling weak and had marvelled in his power when his magic had surfaced. The Seer had not had this advantage, his magic had only made it easier for them to use him.

"I think it was shortly after my eighth birthday when this suddenly was not enough for them anymore. My visions were not long enough, not detailed enough and did not always show what they wanted. They took matters into their own hands, making the cuts themselves whenever they wanted. Then… they tested a potion on me… which produced the desired results."

Marvolo could see the boy trembling and was impressed how he continued, telling them what must have been a nightmare to live in. He frowned has he saw the green eyes darken with memories.

"To understand what the potion did, you have to understand how my ability functions." Here he looked shortly at Marvolo. Ah yes, the boy did not know what Severus had already told him. Marvolo did not interrupt him, it was far too interesting to hear the boy describe his gift and how he perceived it.

"The extent of the visions is based on the amount of blood presented for my magic as a conduit. A bigger or deeper wound means more blood, means more magic. The amplified pain from the cut before the vision is in a way a payment, but also more... it is a little hard to explain… you could call it perhaps a scale to determine what vision I will see. The amount of time I can endure the pain determines the amount of blood which is presented, and therefore more magic can gather, making it possible to see a longer and more detailed vision."

The boy frowned, clearly not entirely satisfied with his explanation. Frustration was obviously visible on his pale face.

"It is like this: I often think I can't endure the pain and I always try to decide if I even _should_ or simply give up. I always have this choice. I can give up and black out, then the vision would be lost, which only happened once so far." The boy did not elaborate when and why he had blacked out, but simply shrugged and continued. Now Marvolo was intrigued why it had happened at all. If the boy could withstand the pain he witnessed at the last vision, what must have happened for him to give up at this one occurrence?

"So somehow, I always find the will to fight. And somehow, my magic knows exactly when the pain reaches the point, I would lose consciousness even if I did not want to. That is normally the moment it connects through the veil with the river of time and instead of fainting I am thrown into a vision. The more pain I endure, the more blood can flow, and the more magic can gather, leading to a longer and more detailed vision."

The boy's voice was now hoarse and dry from speaking, so he tried to free himself of the blankets and reach for the glass of water on his bedside table. Severus was faster and held the glass to his lips, letting him drink in small gulps.

Marvolo used the few moments to shift through the information so far. It was certainly interesting how the boy's magic worked, and he already could guess what the rebels had done to him. But he could use this, the boy's hatred and disgust for Dumbledore and his rebels, to sway the Seer to his side.

"Thanks. So, the potion they used on me… it influenced the amount of pain and prevented me from passing out. The pain was definitely worse even with a small cut and somehow they had linked the potion with a command."

"What do you mean with a command?" Severus interrupted for the first time. His ward looked at him.

"As I said, I was not able to black out. I could not even feel the moment approaching where I would fall into a vision, the potion held me on the edge. It felt like it would go on forever, I can't say how long normally. But at one point, when _they_ determined it was enough pain and blood, they spoke the command and the potion loosened its hold on me and I was thrown into a vision."

Marvolo exchanged a look of disgust, but also of fascination with Severus. Whoever had invented this potion was a genius. It was foul and horrendous, but brilliant.

"Do you remember the words?" Severus enquired. The Seer laughed slightly, a hard and bitter sound coming from someone so young.

"Even if I could, I would never forget those words. _Good boy, now go and see."_ He spat the words out and shuddered.

Marvolo could easily imagine Dumbledore, lightly bent over a bleeding body, speaking those words and believing them to be _soothing._ Salazar… how he hated the man.

"When I came out of the vision, they normally gave me another dose of the potion and interrogated me about the vision. You know how I am directly afterwards." The Seer looked now directly at Severus with a hard and desperate expression, his eyes wide and glittering with unshed tears.

"I always have problems to remember every detail directly afterwards, not everything makes sense. I need some time to rest, and then my mind can bring up every detail. And the aftermath of a vision is not helping."

"What aftereffects are we talking about?" Marvolo asked softly. The Seer's eyes flicked briefly to him.

"Fatigue, tiredness, magical exhaustion, disorientation, dizziness, queasiness and lingering pain. If I am allowed to sleep it off, I am able to remember every little detail from my visions. I never forget what I saw, I remember every second and every detail of every vision I ever had. But they never understood or believed me, they did not listen! They tried Veritaserum or Legilimency, in hope to get every detail of the vision in the moment I was coming out of it. But both are useless, Veritaserum has no effect at all and I have natural Occlumency shields strong enough to prevent even _Dumbledore_ from getting through."

Marvolo nearly interrupted him there and then. Natural strong mind shields even Dumbledore could not penetrate? He really wanted to test them. But he was too fascinated by the expression the Seer wore.

Anger was now presented, not only in the Seer's voice but also his expression; anger and pride. Pride that he prevented Dumbledore from taking even more from him. The emotion transformed his face. His green eyes, clouded before with memories of pain, now held a fierce gleam, lightening them to a nearly unnatural emerald colour.

"If there was time for me to rest, they asked later, but often… often they wanted more visions, more information, always more. So, they initiated vision after vision. They bound me to a cot and made the cuts. Often the afterpain of a vision merged with the pain before the next vision. I lost every sense of time during those _sessions,_ thrown from one vision into another. And they were horrible, mostly about fights, death, destruction and whatever humans can do to other humans to inflict pain. The disorientation and dizziness prevented me from differentiating between vision and reality. But the pain, as awful as it was, helped a little to ground me. And in the few moments where I knew where I was and who I was, I outright refused to tell them anything at all."

Marvolo was disgusted. How could anybody treat a child in such a manner? He was no stranger to torture and had certainly no remorse to use it when it was needed. But never on children. How many days of pain and visions had Harry endured? He had to admit he was impressed by the resilience of the boy.

"They did not consider that I would be unwilling to help them. In the beginning, they did not understand why I would stay silent. Why I refused. They grew more and more frustrated with me. They tried everything to _convince_ me. But what was a little bit more pain compared to what they already did." The Seer shrugged, seemingly unfaced by what must have been traumatising not only for a child his age at that time, but for anybody.

"They gave up for a while or wanted to give me a false sense of security, I am not sure, but they left me alone. During this time, I think I was already ten years old, I had one of those not-accidental visions, those that want to be seen. But I was afraid and tried to resist, which was not a good idea." The boy laughed shortly and sighed then.

"I ignored all the signs, and my magic grew violent under my skin. It broke free at one point, simply exploded out of me. I lost a lot of blood that day and nearly died, but I also saw the attack coming and I saw what I had to do to stay alive till then and what to do to give me the best chances to be left behind."

Severus looked horrified at his ward.

"Where… where did the magic break out of you?" His voice sounded rough. Green eyes looked at him questionably.

"At my lower back. I was lucky and was found by one of the rebels who brought me my meals. They told me that I was nearly an hour in the vision and I was out of it for a week. Nearly emptied their whole stock of blood-replenishing potions that day. Which they used a lot on me anyways."

Severus was out of his seat before the boy finished explaining. He carefully removed the blankets and helped the boy shift to his side, lifting the pyjama bottom to look at his back. Marvolo heard him suck in a breath and stood up himself, joining Severus at the other bedside.

On the left lower back, shortly above the buttocks, a star-like scar marred the boy's skin, nearly as big as one of Marvolo's hands. It really looked like something had exploded from the inside to the outside. He shook his head, the pain and amount of blood the boy must have lost on this day would have certainly killed him.

Marvolo moved back to his chair, while Severus helped his ward lie back on his back again and tucked him in. Severus' face was unreadable even for Marvolo in this moment. His voice demanded attention as he spoke.

"Harry, at the first sign of a vision like that, come and find me. I don't want you to ever ignore these signs again. Understood?"

The boy looked at him and Marvolo was surprised to see a small smile forming in the boy's face while too many emotions were swimming in his eyes, lightening them from the inside again.

"Yes, Severus. Don't worry. I never ever ignored one of those visions again. And they don't occur that often."

Severus nodded, reassured.

"So, what did you do after this vision?" Marvolo brought them back to the topic. The Seer smiled slyly, green eyes sparkling mischievously.

"I lied. I acted like I wanted to help them, now that I had seen something really horrible. I participated willingly. Even made some of the cuts myself. But I only told them false visions, let them walk into traps. Till they believed this one violent vision and their potions had damaged my ability. So, they stopped coming to my room that often. I lied that well that they started doing the exact opposite of what they thought they should do."

Marvolo exchanged a look with Severus and saw the same impressed and slightly proud expression mirrored in his eyes. The sheer willpower, cunning and determination to not only survive his ordeal, but also get the better of the rebels that the Seer had demonstrated was astonishing. And pure Slytherin. Marvolo felt a spark of interest beyond the Seer's unique magic. Perhaps there was more to him than his gift and those interesting emerald eyes.

"I had a vision about what they did and started telling them the truth again. But at this time nobody believed in my visions anymore. Maybe Dumbledore still did, but the rest of the rebels were wary now. The days before your attack, I told some of them that an attack would occur and some other that nothing would be happening. They were completely confused. Dumbledore decided to evacuate the children just in case, but then your attack started and because they argued till the end if my prediction was a real one or not, they had no time to collect me, they simply forgot in the chaos. Severus found me in my room and brought me to Hogwarts." The boy shrugged as he finished his tale, not looking at either of them.

* * *

Harry was exhausted not, only physically but also mentally. Retelling what he had endured at the hands of the rebels and especially Dumbledore had drained him. He did not dare to look at one of the men at his bedside. He did not want to see their expression. Now they knew how naïve he had been. How weak he had been. Would they be disgusted, now that they knew how he had let them use him? Would Severus believe him ever again? He had lied and deceived, too weak to really fight back in any other way.

Warm fingers cupped his chin and guided his head upwards to meet black eyes. Severus looked softly at him.

"I am proud of you Harry. Not only for finding the strength to tell us what happened, but also _of_ you. You managed to survive a situation very few could. You were strong and determined enough do what you had to do. You not only stayed resilient but also found a way to best them, to get back at them. You did nothing wrong, you simply tried to survive. Nobody could and should judge you for this."

Harry could feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes and nodded gratefully, too many emotions blocking his throat to speak. He felt a little dizzy from the relief that he was not hated for his actions.

"Harry, Lord Slytherin wanted to talk to you. Are you up to it or are you too tired?" Severus asked in a quiet tone after Harry had control over himself again.

"About what?" Harry cleared his throat and looked at his guardian quizzically.

"This, he better tells you himself." Severus nudged him slightly and Harry shifted so he could lean to the other side of the bed, giving Lord Slytherin his full attention.

Red eyes looked into his green ones searchingly, it seemed they found what they had been looking for, because Lord Slytherin nodded slightly and leaned back.

"Mr Potter, I must say I am impressed by what you told me. Not only did you survive physically and mentally intact, as it seemed, a situation which can only be called year-long torture, and atop of this as a child. No, you also managed to manipulate the circumstances to benefit you and use them against your tormentors in a purely Slytherin way." He smiled slightly and for the first time, Harry understood why a lot of the female students in the castle swooned over the Lord. The small smile reached his eyes, warming the normally cold red eyes and transformed the aristocratic, handsome face into something breath-taking.

Suddenly Harry had to fight the urge to find out how Lord Slytherin would look when he laughed out loud. Would he look younger, more relaxed? How old was Lord Slytherin actually? He did not look older than thirty, but this could not be. He remembered Draco telling him Lord Slytherin went to school with his grandfather.

"Severus told me that a lot of what I believed was spy information came from you in the last years. For this you have my gratitude." Lord Slytherin sent him another smile.

He gulped and nodded in acknowledgment, too dazed to speak.

"Now, I have a proposal for you, Mr Potter. But rest assured, your stay here at Hogwarts is not at all dependent on your acceptance. Your help in preventing what could have been a disastrous incident today already granted you far more than my gratitude. Without your warning, we would have lost our children, the future of the wizarding world. I am sure that you will have many thankful parents visiting you in the next days, when word will have gotten out about what you have done."

Being thanked by the most powerful wizard in Britain brought Harry out of his shock. He looked shortly at Severus.

"Can we…" he cleared his throat, "can we keep my involvement a secret?"

Lord Slytherin sent him another searching look and regarded him with a glance Harry could not interpret.

"No, we will not keep your part in preventing this disaster a secret. I understand if you fear to be discovered by Albus Dumbledore, but I regret having to inform you that he already knows or suspects that you are at Hogwarts."

Harry did not hear what Lord Slytherin said after this. His ears were filled with a buzzing sound, dread filling him as he felt the familiar panic rise in him.

Dumbledore knew where he was…

Warm big hands cupped his face, while another pair of hands settled on his arm. Frightened, he looked into intense crimson eyes. Part of his brain realized that the hands on his arm must be Severus', while Lord Slytherin's were on his cheeks.

"You are entirely safe here in Hogwarts. Severus is here, the Headmaster and most of the Professors belong to my inner circle. **I** am more often here than in my own manor and I personally reinforced the wards. Nobody, not even Albus Dumbledore can get to you, as long as you are at Hogwarts." The deep soothing voice of Lord Slytherin managed to push through the haze his panic had produced.

Taking deep breaths, Harry brought himself under control again and nodded. Lord Slytherin let go of him, and Harry realized, embarrassed, that he had liked the contact. Severus kept one hand in support on his arm. Harry smiled at him in gratitude.

"What I offer you, Mr Potter, is exactly this. A lifelong protection under my name not only against Dumbledore, but against everyone who wishes you harm or wants to use you, even myself. My name, reputation, magic and resources used in every way possible to assure your safety. A permanent residence at Hogwarts even without Severus."

Now Harry's ears ringed in another way entirely. Him? Under the protection of Lord Slytherin? Nobody… really nobody would even dare to try something with the powerful Lord behind him, perhaps not even Dumbledore. But at what price?

Harry narrowed his eyes at Lord Slytherin and was met with an amused red-eyed gaze.

"What do I have to do for your protection? And you know I have this crazy light lord and his rebel order hunting me. If Dumbledore really knows I am here, they will not stop until they have me at their disposal or have killed me to prevent someone else using me. By now, even the stupidest of them should have realized that my ability is not gone, and Dumbledore is far from stupid. What is your price? You certainly won't do it without gaining something in return." Something which looked suspiciously like pride flickered in those red eyes.

"Only what you already did in the last five years, but more officially. I want you to report the visions you get to Severus or myself in every detail, even if you think it does not concern me, for the next year. I want you to alert Severus or myself when you get one of those not-accidental visions. And I want you to attend official events as my Blood Seer. Plus, I want a predetermined number of cuts for me to collect whenever I want. I will not force you to cut yourself beyond this number."

Harry blinked, not knowing how he should react just yet, especially to the last part. He understood that he had to pay a price for the protection he would receive. And a predetermined, not changeable number, he could handle. Even if Lord Slytherin would be the one deciding when to collect them, in the end it would be still him, Harry, who was in control. He would be the one making the cut.

It was nothing at all like how the rebels had used him. It sounded more like his visions were bought, like a portrait from a painter. Harry mentally shrugged, normally people earned money with their skills, why should he not sell his ability in this way.

Meanwhile, Lord Slytherin continued.

"In Ancient times, Seers were highly respected. What good brought it if you tried to force a Seer? You only had a reluctant Seer at hand, who could outright refuse to share what he or she knew. Because of this, they were normally considered neutral. I know it is not possible for you at this moment because of Dumbledore's action against you, but you could consider it for the future. Dumbledore will not be a problem forever; I even hope that with your help he will be no more than a short-term problem." Here Lord Slytherin smirked at him, and Harry felt a fluttering in his stomach.

"So, my proposal is that you use your gift for me for at least a year. You will be coming of age this summer, so after the year you can decide what you want to do. Meanwhile, you will assist Severus as you did before, report your visions and perhaps with your new status as a wizard with specialised magic, go even to some classes here, be a student. I only ask of you not to leave Hogwarts on your own and let someone know where you are all the time, and that you will be available if I need one of the visions."

Harry's brain tried to catch up with what Lord Slytherin was saying.

"My what?" he asked in astonishment. Surely, he had heard incorrectly. Lord Slytherin waved his left hand dismissive.

"The changes are not through yet, but I already owled Lucius. In the next days, I will set up a Wizengamot meeting. Only because your magic is specialised and concentrated on one kind of magic, does not mean you are not a wizard. I will see to change this. Perhaps we need you to pay a visit to Gringotts, hopefully the Goblins have a way to detect magic outside of the magical core. It would make everything easier," Lord Slytherin mused.

Harry blinked… and blinked again.

"What do you say to my proposal? After the year you can either go away entirely, or stay here at Hogwarts or wherever you wish, or we can negotiate another contract. If you accept, you will be known as the official Blood Seer of my court and will be under my name and protection."

Harry looked frantically at Severus, seeking help. But his guardian shook his head.

"Harry, this is your life, your ability. _You_ should decide what you want to do with both of them."

Harry brought his attention back to Lord Slytherin, feeling overwhelmed and frightened, but also intoxicated that nobody tried to make this decision for him. But he still had concerns and worries and needed to voice them.

"How can I trust you not to use me like I was used before?"

The red-eyed wizard nodded, like he had expected that question.

"I am willing to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect you to my best abilities. To prevent everyone, including myself, from harming you and to do everything in my power to ensure that you do not end in hands of Dumbledore, his rebel order, or one of his supports. And if you are captured, I will use all of my power and resources to free you."

Harry looked at him sceptically.

"And all this for only a year where I report my visions to you or Severus and pose at your official court Seer? And make those predetermined cuts for you? How many did you think of?"

"How many accidental visions do you normally have in a month?" Lord Slytherin asked instead of answering, his face an expressionless mask, not giving anything away.

Harry thoughtfully tapped his chin. "Two or three I would think. Something always happens, even if it is only a small prick with a thorn while preparing potion ingredients, but before I used to wear protective gloves I had more, perhaps five to eight or so."

Lord Slytherin stayed silent for a few moments, seemingly deep in thought, considering what Harry had told him.

"Then I would propose twenty-four visions, two for each month of the year you would be in my service. This does not mean I would request two every month. How does that sound?"

Harry mulled it over in his head. It sounded good, nearly too good. He would not be forced to have visions beyond these twenty-four, and those were not forced. He considered them more a payment, something he had no problem to give willingly if he gained something in return.

He recalled the entire conversation. He had no desire to leave Hogwarts, so this would not be a problem at all. He did not like the thought that he would have to report where he was all the time to somebody like a bloody toddler, but he was sure he could live with it. He had lived with far worse.

And the part that he had to play official court Seer? It would certainly mean he had to accompany Lord Slytherin to balls and gatherings and so on. Letting him show him around like a trophy. He positively disliked it and the thought made him shudder.

But a Vow of Protection from the most powerful and influential wizard in Great Britain? It was definitely worth a little discomfort.

Harry lifted his head and looked Lord Slytherin directly into the eyes.

"I accept."

* * *

Marvolo was pleased. The Seer had accepted his proposal, he was now _his_.

And even if it was only for a year for now, he was sure he could sway him to stay for longer. He only had to show him everything he would gain if he stayed. It would be a delightful little game to woo the boy completely to his side. He allowed himself a small satisfied, smile.

Taking out his wand, he made the Unbreakable Vow to protect the Seer, while the Seer vowed to uphold his side of the bargain, using Severus as their binder. As the magic took hold, Marvolo let excitement fill him.

So much to plan, so many possibilities.

He was sure that the Seer was the opportunity which would lead to the disposal of Dumbledore once and for all. He could hardly wait.

Marvolo supressed a delightful cackle at this thought, it was unseemly.

As he walked to the door to leave Severus and his ward to talk privately, he was stopped by the Seer's voice.

"Can you promise me one more thing, Lord Slytherin?" Marvolo turned around, lifting one eyebrow and looked at the boy on the bed.

"Promise me, that if I should be captured and there is no possible way to free me, that in this case you send someone to kill me. I would do it myself, but I am not sure if my magic would allow it." The boy looked at him with a hard expression, holding too much knowledge for his age in those distinctive green eyes.

He acknowledged the plea with a curt nod and left.

The boy certainly intrigued him, especially after this last request. He understood why he had asked for it, after what he had experienced at the hands of Dumbledore, pleading not to be left at their mercy again was sensible. To even have the strength and determination to ask for it… he would never allow the situation to occur where he would have to uphold this particular request.

The Seer was _his_ now, and he took care of what was his.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 19th of June 2018

Last edited: 18th of June 2019


	7. Interrogations

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own Harry Potter or anything belonging to this universe. I merely like to play in J.K. Rowling's playground.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **Warnings:** mention of torture in this chapter, but nothing descriptive (I leave it to your imagination).

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing and favouring.

Normally I answer review questions by PM, but as he disabled the PM function I have to answer here:

WereWolf356:First, thanks for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it. Second, yes, I know and love "Little Seer". As I wrote in the disclaimer in the Prologue, it was the inspiration to start writing this and the starting situation / background is heavily based on it (Voldy won the first war, Harry as a Seer without "normal" magic, Severus as his guardian, the Order as the bad guys who used him, Harry in the service of Voldy). But now that the background is established, I plan to differ from the plot of "Little Seer".

So, for all of you, here is the next chapter. Have fun reading.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope**.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Interrogations**

Harry settled back unto the bed after Lord Slytherin left. Sighing, he closed his eyes. He was so tired and the conversation with Severus and Lord Slytherin had taken his last energy. His body felt so heavy and he would love to go to sleep, but Severus was still sitting at his bedside, he could feel the man's eyes upon him. He knew Severus had held back while Lord Slytherin had been present. But now they were alone, and he was in for a scolding.

He deserved it.

Warily, he opened his eyes and looked at his guardian, who looked back with an expression Harry could not decipher.

"Severus?"

He only got a sigh as an answer. They sat together for several minutes, quiet. Then Severus got up, stepped towards the bed and checked his temperature while tucking the blankets securely around him. With another sigh, he settled on the edge of the bed.

"I understand why you panicked. I even understand why in your frightened state you ran away. And I really hope that it will never come to this again. I hope you understand now, that you are not alone and that there are people who care for you and will look out for you."

Harry tried to swallow but the lump in his throat prevented it.

"You… you…"

"No, I will not scold you. Our fears are not always rational, even if yours are, and most of the time they are not controllable. I only hope that the next time your fear overpowers you like this, you will run to me, not away from me."

Harry looked at the ceiling with glassy eyes and hoped Severus would not see the tears he tried to prevent from falling. He was certain Severus knew what these words meant to him.

"I will try," he answered in a small voice.

Severus nodded and went back to sit in the chair beside his bed.

"We also have other things to discuss. You agreed to Lord Slytherin's conditions. I said it would be your decision, and that I would not interfere. But I have to ask you Harry, do you even know what being a Court Seer entails?"

Harry looked at him, puzzled.

"Err… report my visions to him and accompany him to a few official gatherings?" He tilted his head questioningly to the side.

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Did you agree to a magical binding contract without knowing the details of what is expected of you?" His guardian looked at him disapprovingly.

"Err…"

"Perhaps you should consult some books on the matter. Or should I give you an overview?"

Harry looked sheepishly at him.

"An overview would be nice."

Severus sighed again, and Harry was sure his guardian was itching to give him a smack on the head.

"Very well. Lord Slytherin told you about the neutral Seers, but he did not mention that not _all_ Seers were neutral. Some families could not handle their child's Seer abilities and sold them to one of the Lords. Later, some Seers went willingly to the Lords, to gain their protection, power, or prestige. These Seers were then bound to the Lord and became the first Court Seers. They belonged to the Lord, he owned them. It did not matter if they willingly went into his service or if they were bought by him. He owned their ability and their body. They were only allowed contact to other people the Lord approved of, most of the time they were hidden away. He fed them, clothed them and – if he deemed necessary – brought teachers for their education. He decided if and who they married and when they had children. In other words, he owned them like he owned a particular valuable horse."

Harry blanched as he listened to Severus. Merlin, what had he gotten himself into! Yes, he agreed to his role as Court Seer, but it did not mean he would go along with whatever Lord Slytherin demanded.

He belonged to no one!

"The Seer were definitely cherished and precious, but they were not treated as humans. They were property, not more than well-treated slaves. Later, this treatment was prohibited by laws. The bond between Lords and Court Seer changed from slavery to servitude, and the Seers had a say in the contract between them, but the Lord still had right to decide everything for them if they did not specify it in the contract before agreeing to it. These laws were never changed or abolished."

Here Harry had to remind himself to breath.

"And as you did not negotiate with Lord Slytherin, and you did not specify the contract between you two, he is well in his right to demand more from you, make decisions for you and take control of aspects of your life, and not only the official parts."

"What… what do you think will he demand?" Harry asked in a shocked whisper.

"I can only guess. You have to ask him himself if you want to know the details of your role as a Court Seer. Theoretically, a Court Seer in the present day could be interpreted as a private advisor, which would mean accompanying him to Wizengamot sessions, social and official balls and meetings. If you want clarity, you have to talk with him." Severus pointed out.

"Why did you not interrupt before I accepted without further negotiations?" Harry said in a slightly accusing voice.

Severus sighed, but fixed his ward with a look from narrowed eyes.

"If I had interrupted, _you_ would have been angry and insulted, thinking that I had no confidence that you could make your own decisions. And Lord Slytherin would have seen that you can't come to a decision on your own and would have thought of you as a child, treating you like one from there on."

Harry pouted at this but could not object.

"And it _was_ your decision to make. I only had hoped you would have asked for a day or two to think it over and not jump into it like a Gryffindor. I had not thought you would agree immediately and make such a hasty decision on such an important matter."

Harry sighed. Severus was right, he had jumped into it without thinking it completely through, the fear over his discovery had been too fresh in his mind still and Lord Slytherin had used this to his advantage.

"He manipulated me quite easily."

Severus chuckled.

"Harry… Yes, you grew up with the Slytherin Head of House, but never forget, he is **Lord** Slytherin. He can out-manipulate all of us without us ever realizing it."

There were a few moments of silence between them, in which Harry swore to himself to never let himself be manipulated like this again. Severus only smiled at him, and Harry had the suspicion his guardian knew what he was thinking about and was amused because he thought he could recognize and evade Lord Slytherin's manipulations.

"Now, you will sleep and rest. I think Madam Pomfrey wants to keep you here for at least two or three days. If you behave, she will perhaps allow Draco to visit." Severus smirked at him.

Harry pouted. He was not a child who had to be reminded not to misbehave.

"Do you think you can sleep, or should I get you a Dreamless-Sleep Potion?"

Harry considered it, then shook his head. He was definitely tired enough to fall asleep any moment now and exhausted enough to hopefully prevent any nightmares.

"Then sleep well."

Severus was not even out of the room when Harry's eyes drooped, and he fall asleep.

With a fond smile, Severus closed the door behind him.

* * *

After an early dinner in the solitude of his quarters at Hogwarts, Marvolo decided to use his present good mood and visit the prisoners they had brought from King's Cross. Nothing disturbed his enemies more than seeing him genuinely smile.

As he reached the part of the dungeons were the cells were, the Lestrange brothers, who were on guard duty, fell into step behind him and followed him silently.

He approached the cell holding the first prisoner. He was greeted with a scowl and a glare from yellowish eyes under bushy eyebrows. The man in the cell was not shackled and seemed to have paced in his cell like a caged lion. Which was a fitting image for the wizard, who resembled the animal with his mane of tawny hair, the way he moved, and the predatory energy he was emitting.

How good it felt to see one of Dumbledore's in this cell, completely at his mercy. He tried to imagine how the old wizard's face had looked when he had realized they had deprived him of not only one, but two of his best.

Marvolo chuckled lightly at the thought and the wizard narrowed his eyes at him, irritated by his mood.

"Mr Scrimgeour, how delightful that you stayed for a visit."

"What do you want?" Rufus Scrimgeour's voice was hoarse.

"Ah, straight to business, there's a man after my own heart." Marvolo smiled at him.

"What I want is information. Where is the headquarter of your little rebel group? What are your next plans and actions? What is Dumbledore up to? How many are you? And names, I want names. This is the information I seek, and if you are answering truthfully, perhaps I make your death a quick one." He studied the wizard, who only glared back at him, standing defensively in the middle of the cell, arms crossed over his chest.

"If you decide to be uncooperative, Mr Scrimgeour, be assured that the rest of your life, as short as it will be, will also be as painful as possible. And in the end, I still would get what I want. It is entirely up to you, if I gain the information with or without inflicting significant amounts of pain."

Now, Marvolo's smile had a bit more teeth to it. He already knew that Scrimgeour would not speak, even under torture, and that he had impressive Occlumency shields. Marvolo had tried them the moment Scrimgeour had looked at him. He could destroy those shields and get all the information out of the wizard's mind, which would lead to destroying it in the progress, but he saw no need to do so.

No, torturing Scrimgeour had another reason altogether, the same one why he was in one of the cells without silencing charms.

The second prisoner was much more interesting and easier to convince than Scrimgeour, especially because they had someone who knew him quite well.

He only needed a little bit of… encouragement and a reminder what would happen exactly if he would not cooperate.

Listening to Scrimgeour's screams would encourage him to be perhaps more willing to listen.

Perhaps he could even be won for their side. Scrimgeour was too old, too set in his ways.

And why should Marvolo not have some fun?

He shifted his attention back to the prisoner before him, who was still glaring at him.

"You can't scare me."

Ah, finally a reaction.

"It was not my intention to scare you. I only wanted to inform you about your options." His words would be heard clearly in the cell next to this.

Marvolo waited, but Scrimgeour leaned back against the wall on the other side of the cell and only stared at him. He sighed and shook his head.

"I see, we will have to fall back on the, for you, more unpleasant alternative." Here, Marvolo sneered maliciously and the first signs of unease could be detected in Scrimgeour's posture.

"Rabastan, please send a note to Severus and our esteemed Professor for Arithmancy to be here in… let's say four hours."

Rabastan nodded and left, while Marvolo, with a flick of his wand, shackled the wizard to the wall and opened the cell.

"Whatever you do, I will not betray Albus. You are a monster, a sadist who only knows to inflict pain. I will never yield to a wizard like you," Scrimgeour spat at him.

Marvolo stepped towards the wizard and let a small, vicious grin appear on his face.

"Oh, I know what Albus and his merry rebel band of flaming chickens thinks about me. It is funny that he managed to convince so many intelligent wizards, who know our history and in what state Wizarding Great Britain had been before I took over. Somehow, he managed to blind them all, they all don't see what is directly in front of their noses. Yes, I am no light wizard. I am as dark as you can get, and I am proud of being a Dark Lord. I have no problem to admit that I love to see my enemies in the dust before my feet, withering in agony. Why shouldn't I? Albus is not so different from me."

Marvolo caressed the bound wizard's cheek with his fingers in a mocking caring gesture, who shuddered at the contact, then he lifted his wand.

Mere seconds later, screams filled the cell and the dungeon hallway, echoing from the walls.

In the particularly good mood he was in, Marvolo tended to go for the more inventive and creative ways to inflict pain, curious as to what sounds he could draw from the wizard.

He thought of the new addition to his followers and inner circle, not that the little seer knew he would be part of this circle, but Marvolo had every intention to keep him as close as possible, and not only because of his magical gift.

As he looked over his victim, bleeding from countless wounds and trembling from pain, only held up by the shackles as the bones in his legs were all crushed, he remembered the Seer lying in his own blood. He had also convulsed in pain obviously too much to bear, but not even a whimper had come over his lips, stubbornness and defiance shining in his eyes besides the agony. He had never seen someone handling and withstanding pain like this.

Marvolo realised that there and then, the boy had earned his respect.

When Scrimgeour's vocal chords broke and his hoarse screams abruptly stopped, he shoved a healing-potion down the wizard's throat and continued.

The wizard in the neighbouring cell shuddered and tried to block out the shrieks.

* * *

Four men waited for him as he stepped out of the cell hours later, leaving behind a bloody, whimpering pile of what was once a proud wizard.

"Let Bella play a little with him, she is allowed to use Veritaserum and Legilimency, I don't care if his mind is broken afterwards. But let Persephone heal him after she is finished, we want him to be in perfect health for his public execution and make an announcement for said execution, it will be held in the marketplace in Diagon Alley in four days," he spoke to the Lestrange brothers, who nodded and left. Then, he shifted his attention to the other two men present.

Severus had a carefully blank expression, while the other shifted between unease, sorrow and determination.

"It was clear from the moment we captured them, that Scrimgeour would not talk willingly. But the other one…"

The man beside Severus shook his head.

"He will not, he is too proud, too stubborn, too far in Dumbledore's pocket."

Marvolo let the offence of being interrupted slide for once. The man was agitated and had every right to be, they were talking about one of his family members.

"He had four hours listening to Scrimgeour's screams to think, and he does strike me as an intelligent man. Surely with some additional information and encouragement, he will see reason."

Conflict settled into the expression of his follower.

"If I may talk to him, my Lord?"

"That is the reason I called for you. Let us proceed."

Both men nodded and followed him as he opened the door to the next cell and entered it but did not step in with him.

The occupant sat in the pitiful cot on the other side of the cell and stared at him with hard eyes. He looked like he would pounce at him every moment, despite not having a wand. His long red hair was held together in a dishevelled ponytail, he was tall and had a fanged earing.

"Mr Weasley, I am terribly sorry for letting you wait so long." Marvolo smiled at him, expecting a mute death glare like he got from every rebel he had interrogated.

But William Weasley, Bill most of the time, surprised him with a smirk and a shrug.

"The accommodation could have been better, but I understand that the big bad Dark Lord had better things to do than to see immediately to a lowly blood traitor. I am merely surprised that I am even worthy enough to be interrogated by his Darkness himself."

Marvolo had to reign in his irritation over being mocked, but he was impressed by the sheer nerve Weasley showed. He had listened to a fellow rebel being tortured for hours and knew he was completely at their mercy. What was it with Gryffindors and their trait of laughing danger in its face?

Marvolo was sure he would never understand this kind of mindset.

William Weasley had been the only one of the Weasley brood who had had the opportunity to go to Hogwarts and be sorted. Hogwarts had still functioned as a school, even while used as a Headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix. Children from dark families had not attended, but the ones from neutral families were welcome alongside the light ones.

This has led to their downfall. Some of the older students from neutral families had, together with his best spy placed as the Potions Professor, found a way to lower the wards, so that Marvolo and his forces could step on Hogwarts' ground. After a fierce battle, Dumbledore and his people had fled. Marvolo took control over Hogwarts, interrogated the Professors who had not fled, and had allowed the ones not loyal to Dumbledore to stay.

The whole curriculum had been revised since then, and Marvolo was very pleased with the changes. The children got the best education available and Hogwarts was advertised as the best magical school in the world once again, a status which had been lost under Dumbledore as the headmaster.

"I am pleased to see that you did not lost your humour, Mr Weasley. I am sure you heard what I wanted from Mr Scrimgeour. I am here to give you the opportunity to provide me with the information I seek. And before you decide to make the same decision as Mr Scrimgeour, you should listen. Your options, while quite similar to Mr Scrimgeour, differ, as I am willing to let you live."

Mr Weasley's expression changed to astonishment and he could not prevent a whispered "Why?" escaping from his lips.

"Are you willing to listen, Mr Weasley? I don't know what Dumbledore tells you all about the state Wizarding Britain is in and about myself, but I am no monster and I try to preserve magical blood whenever I can. From what I know of you from one of my own, you are an intelligent man and I hope open-minded enough to make your own decisions. Or are you too deep into Dumbledore's pocket, that you would ignore evidence when it is presented before you?"

Marvolo knew he had him, he saw it in the moment he questioned Bill's ability do make his own decisions. A man like William Weasley did not take well to be insulted in such a way. Oh, he certainly was suspicious and was so far convinced that everything they would tell and show him was either tampered with or a lie. But he would listen. That was enough for now.

Oh, would it not be delightful not only to bereft Albus of two of his best, but gain a powerful wizard and one hell of a fighter in his own ranks at the same time? Marvolo smirked at the thought.

Bill nodded slowly, suspicion in his eyes.

"Then, I will leave you in the presence of our Potions Professor and our Professor of Arithmancy. These two will answer all your questions about my reign, the alterations in Hogwarts and the Ministry I installed, and the changes I made in the wizarding world of Great Britain. You rebels, I think, are far behind in the news and happenings. If after this certainly enlightening conversation, you want to talk to me, tell either one of them or call for one of the guards, there are always some standing in the hallways."

He nodded to his prisoner, who looked even more baffled and completely out of his depths, and left the cell, nodding to the two men waiting in front of the door.

Both stepped inside and Marvolo heard the shocked intake of breath from the captive rebel.

"Hello Bill, it's good to see you," his brother, Percy Weasley, youngest Professor for Arithmancy at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry spoke in greeting.

* * *

Severus lingered at the door of the cell, allowing the brothers the appearance of privacy. He was mainly here to observe.

"Percy?" Bill took a tentative step towards his brother.

"We thought…", his voice broke a little, "we thought you were dead. After the raid, when you were not with the other children in the safe house..."

He took another step and reached for the other redhead. Percy took the hands of his brother and squeezed them.

"Well, I stayed behind when we abandoned the base and used the raid as an opportunity."

"You could have been killed! And an opportunity for what?" Bill looked horrified at his brother, while Severus hid a snort. An opportunity indeed, it had been a bold and entirely Gryffindor move Percy had taken at the age of sixteen.

"I knew they would not kill me, as I was still a child and it was an opportunity to leave Dumbledore's influence, to see for myself what was going on in the wizarding world." Percy took his brother by the elbow and guided him to the small cot, sitting down with him. Bill looked at him, questioning.

"What do you mean with Dumbledore's influence? Dumbledore is – "

Percy interrupted his brother with a shake of his head, it seemed not even he wanted to hear how _good_ Dumbledore was.

"Dumbledore is definitely not! Bill, I ever regarded you as the most intelligent one of us brothers. You and Charlie were the only ones who went to an official school, even if it was only a small one in Spain. You got an apprenticeship as a curse-breaker at the Gringotts branch in Paris, you saw how the society Lord Slytherin built is regarded outside of Britain. How can you say that Dumbledore is right?"

Bill looked at him, still shocked, but something shifted in his gaze and Severus contemplated for the first time, that there could perhaps be a possibility that Bill Weasley was not a complete dunderhead. He was silently impressed at the accomplishments of the young man, the goblins were highly selective in their apprentices, and all this while his family was regarded as rebels and hunted in their home country.

"I… I always thought that perhaps these people don't know how it actually is, in Britain. They only saw the results, not how they were achieved and how he ruled with fear… but since Mum and Dad called me back and I am really part of the Order…" He trailed off. "I am not so sure anymore. Dumbledore's plans are extreme, and he seemed… obsessed. I don't understand what he wanted to accomplish with the kidnapping of the Hogwarts students, and how he managed to talk us all into it." He sighed. "But on the other side, we hear about how Slytherin controls everything. Dumbledore is perhaps a little unhinged, but at least he is not a manipulating, control-obsessed…"

"And there you are wrong," Percy interrupted. "Dumbledore is as equally manipulative as Lord Slytherin and he controls everything in his rebel group. Why do you think the younger ones are not allowed to go to school outside of Britain anymore? They would learn that our society prospered under Lord Slytherin, Hogwarts is again the number one school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have applications from all over to world to transfer here. And as I remember, you are not even allowed to read the newspaper or go in disguise to one of the villages. Yes, Lord Slytherin rules with a hard hand. But he changed so much for the better, and we wizards are so hard to convince to change even the smallest things at all. Comes with the long lifespan I think." He smiled slightly, while Bill looked like he lost the ground under his feet.

"But he took away the people's freedom! You can't support the executions and public punishments. The Wizengamot is only a sham as he overrules them all if he sees it fit. Yes, there is still a Minister, but Malfoy answers to Lord Slytherin. They are taking away children from their parents because they are Muggles. Everyone must have their magical core tested as toddlers. If you want to marry, you have to get permission from the Ministry! He allows children to learn the Dark Arts! The contact with the muggle world is strictly regulated, if you want to go to - for example Muggle London, you have to get a permission pass! He interferes in every aspect of people's lives. How can you support this?" Bill looked and sounded outraged now and Severus sighed.

Oh Merlin, rescue us from hot-headed Gryffindors, or was it a Weasley family trait? But he had to compliment Dumbledore, he really had his people blinded. He heard Percy murmur something under his breath, then he addressed his brother in a quiet but serious voice.

"I will answer all your question, brother, if you are willing to listen. But for this you have set the prejudice and the influence Dumbledore taught us from a young age aside. Are you willing to do this?"

Bill looked at him for a few moments, but something in Percy's expression must have convinced him, so he nodded.

"Then let me first tell you why I chose to take the opportunity, stayed behind and let myself be taken, and what I did since leaving," Percy started to explain.

"I think it was shortly after my fifteenth birthday when I was reading in one of the rooms near the holding cells in our old headquarters. Nobody checked those rooms, so I had my peace. On this day, I overheard an interrogation of one of the Ministry workers they had caught a few weeks before. What he said confused but intrigued me. He spoke about how Lord Slytherin built the Ministry anew. He laughed at their accusation that the man ruled them merely through fear. After this day, I nicked newspapers whenever I could and sneaked into the cells to talk with the prisoners. I learned that they would never kill a child if it could be prevented. So, I decided to let myself be taken, without resistance. After some interrogation by the Minister, the Head of the DMLE, and the Headmaster, it was decided I could stay. I was enrolled in Hogwarts for my sixth and seventh year and after my N.E.W.T.s I concentrated on studying Arithmancy and gained my Mastery."

Severus remembered how impressed he had been. The boy did not have a normal education before coming to Hogwarts, but he had shown stubbornness and persistence and a willingness to learn and prove himself. And to gain a Mastery through self-study without an apprenticeship normally took years, Percy had managed it in two. An apprenticeship under a Master normally was a minimum of three years, most needed five or more.

His brother looked as impressed as Severus had been.

He half-heartedly listened as Severus' colleague told his brother how he got the Professor position at Hogwarts and how he witnessed what Lord Slytherin had done for the wizarding world of Great Britain.

Severus had known the Weasley family from his time as a spy in the Order of Phoenix. During his time as a Potions apprentice, he had already been in the inner circle - albeit as a young and not so important member, because of his talent with Potions, spell-crafting, Occlumency and the Dark Arts. In this time, he had not taken an active role in his Lord's attempt to drive Dumbledore out of Hogwarts. It had been a really busy time, and he had had nearly no contact with his Lord or someone from the inner circle and had no desire for a lot of company.

At one of his visits to the apothecary in Diagon Alley, he had been approached by his old friend Lily Evans, at this point already Lily Potter.

It seemed Dumbledore had interpreted his apprenticeship and his sparse contact with the Dark Lord's people as a falling out with them. They had tried to recruit him for their Order.

Severus had taken the opportunity, after contacting his Lord, and had allowed the recruitment. It had taken months till they trusted him (Potter and his friends together with Moody had been the ones who were suspicious the whole time) and Dumbledore had started to confide him into his plans. His friendship with Lily had flourished again. And his Lord had been delighted to have another spy in Dumbledore's ranks.

Dumbledore for his part, had encouraged him to still hold his contact with the Dark Lord's people to gather information, therefore Severus has acted as a double agent with the consent of his Lord.

After he completed his apprenticeship in the record time of under three years and had gained his Potions Mastery, he had taken the post as Potions Professor at Hogwarts in 1981, putting him nearer to Dumbledore.

If he thought about it now, he knew Lily had given birth to a boy, but he had never seen the child and when he started teaching at Hogwarts, which also had been the Headquarter of Dumbledore's Order where they all lived, the boy was already gone. He had never asked, had not been interested in the spawn of James Potter.

Would he have done something had he known they planned to give their child away because they thought he was a Squib?

Severus shook his head. No, he had been too busy with spying, teaching, and trying to gain his Lord access to Hogwarts. He regretted to admit that even if he had known and perhaps had met Harry as a baby, nothing would have happened differently.

What he regretted, was that all his careful attempts of convincing Lily that the changes his Lord already had brought to wizarding Great Britain were something their society had needed, had not been successful. He had tried to show her that Dumbledore was not the second Merlin, that he was biased because of his dislike of Lord Slytherin and that his opinion on Muggles and the integration of their culture into the magical one was not only foolish but also dangerous. That he was prejudiced because of his friendship and falling out with Grindelwald.

He had been sure that she would see reason, but then Hogwarts had been taken by his Lord and Lily had escaped with the surviving members of the Order. Years later, he had learned that she had been killed in one of the confrontations.

Even now, years later, grief ripped painfully through him when he thought of his formerly best friend.

He shifted his concentration back to the conversation before him to distract himself from his bitter thoughts.

"Are you saying that _he_ did all this? Changing the laws so that magical werewolves and vampires are not second-class citizens? Muggle-borns are welcome? A primary school for Muggle-raised children to learn our culture, traditions and etiquette?" Bill sounded utterly sceptical.

Percy sighed.

"Yes. He did more than Dumbledore ever promised. And the tightening of the separation to the Muggle world is necessary."

"Why? Why should we separate from them? They are not dangerous, the witch-hunts were centuries ago. Why should the Muggle parents either vow a magical oath and relocate to one of the magical villages or give their children away and be obliviated? This is cruel!" Bill interrupted him in outrage.

"Bill, what do you know about the muggle world? Do you know they invented weapons so destructive that one is enough to destroy a city like London? That they have technology with which they can take pictures of our magical areas from space? We had to invent complete new wards with the help of the Goblins to conceal large magical areas. And what do you know about discrimination in their world? Their history shows that muggles turn against minorities and everything that is different and incomprehensible for the majority. They tried to enslave a whole population only based on their different skin colour and declared them second-class citizens. Do you even know how many Muggles there are? Under Lord Slytherin, the magical population prospered, but their number still surpass us four thousand to one! What do you think would happen if the Muggles became aware of the magical community in Great Britain?"

Severus saw the moment Bill comprehended what would happen, he went utterly pale.

"Mr Weasley, I think it would be interesting for you to see some of the things you discussed, with your own eyes. If you consent to wearing a tracking-band which also prevents you from doing any magic and will stupefy you if you try to leave Hogwarts, you are allowed to walk around the castle, talk with the students, the professors."

Both redheads looked at him in surprise, as if they had forgotten he was there, which was entirely possible.

"There are still students here? It is Christmas."

"We don't celebrate Christmas, but the old tradition of Yule. Yesterday was the student Yule ball here, theoretically today the students would have gone home and have the Yule ceremonies and rituals with their families as it should be at the day after Yule evening, therefore starting the traditional three-day celebration. Most of them left now by Portkey or Apparition, but there are still some who will reside here during the holidays apparently."

Bill looked at him in surprise.

"The old traditions are installed again? They are allowed again?"

"Yes. The celebrations begin with the night's blessing ritual the evening after Yule at midnight, which will be in around half an hour, and the day's blessing at midday. In three days, the magical and nature's blessing rituals are performed, ending the Yule festivities. Our ancestors performed and celebrated these days with a reason. We welcome progress and innovations, but we should never forget our roots. The blessing rituals strengthened the wards of the dwelling they are performed in, our magical core and our bond to Lady Magic."

Severus observed the conflict in Bill Weasley. As a curse-breaker he knew of the old traditions, the Goblins surely had told him and the reasons behind them.

"Will there be such a ritual here at Hogwarts?"

"There will be several, as most of the Professors are here over the holidays and some students. Normally they are done privately with family, but as Lord Slytherin is also staying at Hogwarts at the moment, it could be that he wants to perform a public holding of the magical and nature rituals, which would mean everyone interested could join or observe. ."

Bill fell silent for a few minutes, and when he looked up again, Severus knew they had convinced him. He did not know it himself in this moment, but Bill Weasley was not part of the rebels anymore.

"I consent to the tracking-band. If my brother was able to see the good in what Slytherin did for the British wizards and witches, I should at least take the chance to observe. And will you please inform Lord Slytherin that if he has time, I would talk to him tomorrow."

"Certainly." Severus nodded and pulled out the tracking-band. With a flick of his wand, it was tied around Bill's right wrist, adjusted to his magical signature and linked with his core.

With a short nod to both men, he left the cell and made his way to the infirmary, he wanted to see his son in all but blood before he went to perform the night's blessing in private.

He would have loved to have Harry with him, but as a Squib he had so far not been allowed to perform these rituals (which was based on the fact that they had no magic the ritual could form a link with). They had not dared to do it anyway, in case someone saw it and got suspicious. But now, now Lord Slytherin knew, Severus hoped he could at least perform the magical and nature blessing together with Harry.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 13th of July 2018

Last edited: 2nd of July 2019


	8. The blessing of Nature and Magic

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own Harry Potter or anything belonging to this universe. I merely like to play in J.K. Rowling's playground.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing and favouring. All of your lovely reviews made me really really happy.

As I was ill for a time a few weeks ago (I did not even have the energy to read fanfic let alone write) and then went to W:O:A, this chapter took longer to be written than I wanted. Especially the ritual created some problems for me, the one you get to read now is the fourth version, as I was not satisfied with the previous ones. I am still not 100% happy with it but it comes near what I envisioned so I leave it like this.

And as I had another guest review here, my answer to **krabi** : No I don't want to follow the plot of Little Seer, I only needed and used it for the background story. So, there will be no Snape in coma, Harry will not lose his hand, but I am sorry there will be no Draco/Harry/voldy. It will be a Harry/TMR or to be specific Harry/Marvolo story. I love Draco's character, but he is not fitting in with these two here and Marvolo is certainly too possessive to share.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope** , many hugs and kisses to her!

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The blessing of Nature and Magic**

The next days were utterly boring for Harry, as Madam Pomfrey did not permit him to leave his bed in the hospital wing for more than going to the bathroom. At least he was allowed visitors besides Severus and he really hoped Lord Slytherin would be coming back. He needed to talk with the man!

Harry was fuming when he recalled how easily he had been manipulated.

He knew Lord Slytherin was still in the castle and would stay here till after the New Eve's ball. Severus told him about several meetings with Lord Slytherin. About the laws which would be changed if they could prove that his magic was in his blood, perhaps even measure it.

But he never saw the man himself.

One afternoon, Draco visited, and Harry was really happy to see him till his friend opened his mouth and started swearing at him while scolding him like a little child, all without raising his voice. No, Draco did not need to shout, his cutting remarks were sharp enough.

Harry was silently impressed how many insults the Pure-blood heir knew and how he managed to berate him so that he felt like a five-year-old again (even Aunt Petunia's tirades never had this superior air and she knew only half of the words Draco used). At one point, he even shifted into French without realizing and only Harry's amused expression brought him out of it.

Only when Harry swore never to place his life at risk like this again and told him about the oath with Lord Slytherin, Draco calmed down.

"Oh, if you have to answer to Lord Slytherin now… then well… I think he is one of the rare people who will be able to handle you."

Draco smirked at Harry's spluttering and outcry that he did not need any handling.

"Stop pouting," Draco commented. Harry did not dignify him with remark and settled back into his pillows while glaring, the blond only chuckled at the stare.

They spent a relaxing evening and afternoon with chess and exploding snap, while talking about everything. Draco recounted the happenings at the train and later Hogwarts for him, and then asked him about his ability. Harry had been reluctant to talk about it at first, but when he saw no judgment or disgust in his friend's expression, he answered most of Draco's questions. Naturally, he left out any specific details about his childhood and the order.

Draco was completely fascinated by his blood seer ability – or gift how he preferred to see it.

"You really have to come to one of the Blood Magic classes after the holidays. I am sure Professor Carrow will be intrigued with your kind of magic. And I have to introduce you to my friends. They will be so jealous. A Blood Seer and the Court Seer of Lord Slytherin. Oh, the possibilities."

Harry watched, amused as Draco nearly bounced up and down.

He did not tell him that he was a little intimidated by Professor Amycus Carrow and his sister Alecto, the Professor for Dark Arts, when he saw them in the hallways. The twin Professors always seemed so… intense.

Thank Merlin he had never had to interact with them… so far.

"So, why does it leave scars when your magic heals you directly after a vision? Normally wounds from cuts and so on can be healed without leaving scars." Draco asked, while taking one of his pawns as they played a game of chess.

Harry glared at the chess board for a moment.

"I am not sure, but as I get the same vision if I open a scar again, I think it's a way to keep track. To mark the skin which was already used and register the visions already seen, so to speak." He shrugged and moved his rock, only to get it beaten immediately by Draco's bishop.

"So, every scar is a vision. Do you remember them all?"

Harry scornfully looked at his chess pieces. He was losing… spectacularly, like every time he played with Draco, it was brutal what the blond could do with a simple chess game.

"What? Ah… yes, I remember every detail from every vision and I can match them with the respective scar."

The blond moved another of his chess pieces.

"Checkmate." Draco settled back and smirked at him. "No wonder you are such a scatterbrain, there is not much space left up there for normal things."

Harry, who had studied the chessboard to understand how Draco had checkmated him again in under five minutes, snapped his gaze to his friend.

"Oi!" He cried in indignation and smacked the blond with his pillow.

That would have ended in a full-out pillow fight if Madam Pomfrey had not come for a check-up at that very moment.

They settled back for another round of chess instead.

"And the scar on your forehead? It's an odd shape." Draco asked after setting up the board.

Harry raised his hand and traced the scar in the shape of a lightning bolt above his right brow.

"I told you about those major not-accidental visions. The ones who compel me to cut. This was the very first one and my hands trembled the whole time, so I slipped with the knife, I think. Or perhaps it wanted to be cut like this, I am not entirely sure." He shrugged. "It was a few weeks after my very first vision, I was six and the kitchen knife was too big for my hands."

He did not look up, he did not want to see the pity in Draco's eyes, which certainly would be there. He did not need nor want pity.

His friend said nothing, instead he beckoned Harry to make the opening move.

They played in silence for a few minutes, then Draco told him how Blaise had nearly fainted on the Hogwarts express when Severus had demanded one of his hairs for the Polyjuice Potion. Blaise was utterly vain and nobody – really nobody, was ever allowed to touch his hair.

The next hour was filled with laughter over all the silly things Draco's friends had ever done and Harry actually looked forward to meeting them, even if he dreaded the moment he had to interact with someone besides Severus, Draco and some of the Professors he knew... and perhaps Lord Slytherin.

Despite the man's manipulative tendencies, the interactions Harry so far had with him, had not been awful.

With another joyful promise to introduce him to his friends as soon as he was out of the infirmary, Draco left when Madam Pomfrey shooed him out of her territory in the evening.

* * *

Now, two days later, Harry walked through the hallways of Hogwarts with a single-minded goal. Madam Pomfrey had finally released him from her care this morning and Harry had decided to confront Lord Slytherin himself.

He knew where the Lord's office was located, everyone knew it. The short hallway from the entrance hall was strictly off-limits without being ordered or invited to be there. But Harry did not care. He had asked Severus to convey his wish to talk with Lord Slytherin but had not gotten any response.

Harry was sure, that this was another way of Lord Slytherin to manipulate him, forcing him to come to him. It did not matter.

He paused before the door, collecting himself, and knocked.

* * *

The knock on his office door surprised Marvolo. He did not expect someone today.

"Enter," he called out.

The door opened and Marvolo could not contain an amused grin as Severus' ward stepped inside, a determined expression on his face. He had intended to talk with the boy in the next days, that Mr Potter was seeking him out himself, surprised him. Not many people would come to talk to him voluntarily or were bold enough to knock on his office door uninvited.

Marvolo took a moment to examine the boy. So far, every time he had seen him, Mr Potter had been either unconscious or was recuperating.

Now that he was standing before him, healthy and awake, Marvolo, who appreciated beauty when he saw it, had to admit that he was stunning in his own unique way.

Not the dark masculine handsomeness Marvolo himself possessed, and used to his advantage, and neither the cold fair beauty the men of the Malfoy family were known for.

The boy was petite for a sixteen-year-old, the top of his head not even reaching Marvolo's shoulders, would they be standing side by side. His face was soft but expressive, with a small, slightly upturned nose, high cheekbones and almost too big almond shaped eyes. His complexion was creamy and a little too pale, which was no wonder as the boy mostly hid in the dungeons. His jet-black hair was in a messy braid, which fell down the small of his back, some tousled strands covering his forehead, falling into his eyes.

He radiated innocence, if you did not look into his eyes, which were shining with resolution and defiance, as he stood stiffly in front of Marvolo's desk.

These brilliant eyes fascinated Marvolo the most, with their hidden depths and the promise that there was more to Harry Potter than what the exterior showed. These eyes looked so much older than the mere sixteen years the Seer had lived so far.

As the piercing gaze focused on him, Marvolo felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Mr Potter, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He leaned back in his chair, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk invitingly.

As the boy took the seat, Marvolo decided with another glance into those ancient eyes, that boy was perhaps not the right term for Mr Potter.

"I hoped, Lord Slytherin, that you had some time to clarify what my service as a Court Seer entails." The young man in front of him spoke in a carefully neutral tone, but Marvolo could not hide a small smirk.

So, Mr Potter had realized that he had given Marvolo a nearly free reign over his life.

"Ah yes, I imagine you would want to know what exactly being a Court Seer means."

The Seer nodded. "Severus explained to me the history of Court Seers and…" he trailed off.

Marvolo chuckled. "The history of Court Seers is quite interesting, but I think we will handle the service a little different. What I require from you, besides the already defined number of prophetic cuts and your report of all other visions, is your attendance of gatherings and meetings, official ones and private ones, when I request it. I am sure, your visions gave you an insight in a lot of things and happenings, I always want to know if you recognize someone or something. You have the most experience with interpreting your visions and therefore your opinion is welcome."

He paused briefly, opened one drawer of his desk and removed the item within.

"Furthermore, you will wear this pendant. It is an emergency portkey and has a tracking charm embedded. The activation key is ´Basilisk` and it will transport you to the hospital wing here at Hogwarts. It will activate automatically the moment you are unconscious or taken out of the wards of the castle without myself or Severus at your side. Nobody beside you and me can remove it once you have put it on."

He handed the pendant, dangling from a thin silver chain to the young man, who regarded it with something akin to disgust. Marvolo was sure he was offended because of the tracking charm, which was normally used on toddlers and small children.

"As you are not blood related to Severus or me, the tracking charm's range is limited. If you are taken from Hogwarts, we have no means to locate you, therefore do not hesitate to use the portkey."

The green gaze shortly flickered to him, then the Seer sighed, took the portkey and put it on, hiding it in his clothes.

"This afternoon, after the blessings to Nature and Magic, which you will attend, you will accompany me to Gringotts. The goblins were vague when asked about magical detection outside of the core without being told the whole situation. Thus, we will meet with the head goblin today."

Mr Potter opened his mouth, seemingly to interrupt, but caught himself before speaking.

"Yes, Mr Potter, you will attend the blessings today and participate in them, Severus will tell you the details. See it as your first act as my Court Seer. You will be announced as such at the ball on New Year's Eve, to which you will accompany me. Therefore, tomorrow you have an appointment with my personal tailor after lunch, as I am sure your wardrobe is not up to the standard I acquire from my Court Seer. As your Lord, I will provide the suitable attire you need."

The Seer did not interrupt, but glared at him to show his displeasure, the green of his eyes intensifying with his anger.

"I talked with Severus about your education. After we have proven that you are a wizard and not a Squib, you will enrol as a student at Hogwarts. This means that in the first week of the new year, you will sit your O.W.L.s Severus suggested Herbology, Potions, Magical and Muggle History and Care of Magical Creatures. He told you are up to seventh year standard in these courses. A few days later, you can sit your N.E.W.T.s in Potions, Severus told me you are far ahead in this subject and he does not want to lose his assistant. It would be best for you to look through the curriculum and see which classes you want to take. Understandably, classes which require active magic are not available for you. I only insist that you take Blood Magic with Professor Carrow, as your magic is a prime example of the craft."

Now the Seer looked at him with big wide eyes full of astonishment and disbelief.

"You want me to be a student here?" he asked with a slight tremble in his voice.

Marvolo nodded, observing the different emotions flicker over the young man's face.

"But… I never went to any school in my life. Some of the adults in the rebel camp taught me to write and read, everything else I learned from books I was allowed to read. And I couldn't enrol at Hogwarts as a Squib, so Severus taught me everything he knew, and I could learn without magic. The rest I learned from the library. I don't know what it means to be a student."

"And that is the reason I want you to be a student here, even if it is only for half a year. The experience will do you good. Someone like you, who can reach O.W.L. standard - and here I trust Severus' assessment of your skills - mostly by teaching himself, has earned his right to graduate properly. It will further accentuate your status as a wizard."

The Seer sank deeper in his chair, still looking at him disbelieving.

"We will have to incorporate your position as Severus' Potions assistant with your timetable and your service as Court Seer always will have priority. As Potions assistant and Court Seer, you will receive the appropriate payment, which will go directly to your Gringotts account."

"But I don't have an account at Gringotts."

Marvolo waved the interruption away with a wave of his hand.

"We will open one for you when we are at Gringotts. As I said, you will receive payment, but as you will be a student at Hogwarts you will not need it. Lodging, food, clothing and everything you need as a student will be provided."

"And who will pay for it?" Marvolo narrowed his eyes as he was interrupted again, he was not used to it.

"The costs will be split between Severus and me. Severus insisted that as your guardian it falls to him to pay for your education."

"But…" The boy tried to interrupt once more but Marvolo ignored it.

"So, your salary will go completely into your bank account. Everything you need will be provided for you. Regarding your lodging, you can have your own quarters here at Hogwarts after the summer if you wish. Till then, you will be a student and we will sort you into one of the houses. You will also still have your room at Severus' quarters."

He tapped his chin, thinking if he had something to add.

"That's it for the moment. So far, I do not plan to interfere in your private life beyond that. If I acquire something else from you in the future, I will tell you."

He knew the moment he said it, that the Seer was not pleased that he retained the possibility for changes and more demands for the future. Marvolo chuckled silently at the indignant stare, fascinated by how the emotions were clearly visible in the expressive face and how they changed the green of his eyes to a glowing emerald. He always had liked the green colour spectrum.

"I will see you in two hours at noon for the blessings." He meant it as a dismissal and it was received at such.

After the door was closed behind the young man, Marvolo allowed himself a satisfied smirk. He looked forward to having the Seer accompany him to the Ball on New Year's Eve. If this morning's meeting was an indication, Mr Potter was not someone who followed and bowed on principal and he certainly had an opinion of his own.

Yes, he had not allowed the young man to have any say in today's meeting. But the stares from those intense eyes showed a strong character and he already knew from Severus that Mr Potter was far from stupid. And that he even dared to try to interrupt Marvolo…

It seemed Mr Potter would keep Marvolo entertained beyond his Seer abilities, and that he was more than pleasant to the eyes was certainly a bonus.

* * *

Harry did not know how it happened, but suddenly he was dismissed and stood in the corridor in front of Lord Slytherin's office.

That had not gone how he had envisioned it.

Damn the man!

He had decided everything without even asking… but then, what would you expect from someone like Lord Marvolo Slytherin.

Harry sighed heavily and slowly walked towards the dungeon, his mind occupied with what he had been told.

Accompany him to meetings, gatherings, balls…

He certainly did not like it. He hated crowds, and he was fuming at the thought about the tailoring tomorrow. How dare Slytherin treat him like a child! He could have acquired his own robes…

Harry sighed, he had to admit that even if he had the money to acquire his own dress robes, he certainly did not know what was appropriate to wear as a Court Seer to such events.

Money… he would get paid for his service! Something he had not expected. So far, he had gotten a small allowance from Severus, but to earn his own money…

And then to be told that he did not need it… Harry scowled, feeling like he was treated like a child again.

But he had to admit that he did not even know for what he would need his own money. He had everything he needed here at Hogwarts. So far, he had used it to buy Severus and Draco birthday presents.

He knew the students used their money to buy sweets and joke articles at Hogsmeade. But Harry never had the urge to do the same. If you knew where the entrance to the kitchen was, you did not need to buy sweets, the house-elves happily provide you with whatever pastries, pudding and ice-cream you wanted.

The students… Harry nearly missed a step of the stairs on his way down to the dungeon.

He would be a Hogwarts student… sometimes he had been jealous of Draco and his friends and all the other children in the castle, for their carefree lives, that they took being a student here for granted.

He never even had dared to dream about being a student here. How could he, without being able to perform magic?

But now… now Lord Slytherin had not even asked, he had dictated that Harry would enrol at Hogwarts for the next term. He would be sorted, would be part of one of the houses, have classes, eat with the other students and sleep in the dormitory… like a normal student.

It was mind-blowing.

* * *

Harry followed his guardian out of Hogwarts. After his talk with Lord Slytherin, he had told Severus everything that had occurred, but as it seemed, Severus had already been informed of most of it. Harry had been cross with his guardian for not telling him, but the Potions Master had only laughed.

"Harry, you will have to deal with Lord Slytherin on a nearly daily basis from now on. Therefore, it is crucial for you to learn first-hand and as fast as possible what kind of man he is."

Harry had no argument against this and silently fumed for a time.

Now, they were on their way to the ritual site for the blessing of Nature and Magic: the last Yule's blessing with which the celebrations would be coming to an end.

Harry was looking forward to seeing the blessings himself, as it would be the first time he was allowed to attend.

The snow crunched under their feet as they made their way over the snow-covered grounds to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The area between the Forest and the Black lake had been prepared for the ritual.

A large circle of swirling runes was drawn into the earth, which had been cleaned of most of the snow. In the middle of the big circle was another smaller circle made of runes, the space between them divided in several parts. One part was left snow-covered, the other ones were cleaned of the snow.

The whole ground of the inner circle was covered with different coloured runes, painted into the earth. In it stood the imposing figure of Lord Slytherin, clad in thick, warm robes. Harry was not sure which colour they were. Depending from what angle he looked at them they were black, white or grey.

From the inner circle, colourful lines stretched outwards, thin extensions spreading out like the branches of a tree, the ends connecting with the runes of the outer circle's border.

All around the circle, people had taken up position, facing Lord Slytherin, who nodded to Severus and Harry as he saw them approach. More people were standing a few steps away, watching, Severus had explained that not everyone wished to participate. Harry was nervous because he would be taking part in the blessing. What if his lack of core magic would disturb the ritual?

"Severus, Mr Potter, welcome." Lord Slytherin did not move out of the circle. "Please take your position, we will begin shortly."

Severus nodded and guided Harry around the circle, to an area next to the snow-covered section. The runes of the outer circle where Harry now stood were connected through dark red and oddly uncoloured lines with the inner circle.

Harry did not even register when his guardian moved further along the circle to find his own place, he was completely enthralled with the runes and colours at his feet.

The murmurs settled down and Lord Slytherin began to speak.

"We are here to honour Nature, the one who brings forth life, who surrounds us and nurtures us." Slytherin lifted his wand while talking and swirled it around him, several runes under his feet began to glow faintly.

"We are here to honour Magic, the one who makes us who we are, who bestows us with her gift." With another flick of Slytherin's wand, the rest of the runes started glowing, illuminating the whole inner circle and the Lord standing within it, in every imaginable colour.

"We are here to show our gratitude and to lay our sacrifices before them, to restore what they gave us, to strengthen our bond and receive their blessing." Lord Slytherin spoke the last words quietly, but his distinctive baritone carried them even to the onlookers.

Somewhere on Harry's left side, he saw a movement. Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, stepped into one part of the outer circle, her wand held in her right hand in a diagonal line over her heart.

"Nature bestowed us the gift of motherhood. As she gives birth every spring to new life, we see our children born, and we nurture them as she nurtures us. Mother Nature, we honour you." Mrs Malfoy moved her wand in a crescent movement downwards till the tip pointed to the ground and tendrils of light reached from her wand to the network of lines at her feet. The moment the tendrils connected with them, they started to glow in all the bright and joyful colours of spring, their light wandering to the inner circle, increasing the rune's glow there, spring flowers breaking out of the earth, blooming.

Next stepped Lucius Malfoy into the circle, his wand held in the same way his wife had hers before.

"Nature bestowed us the gift of fatherhood. As she gives all her strength in summer to allow all of her creation to grow, we give all our strength to see our children grow and learn and we protect them as she protects us. Mother Nature, we honour you." With the movement of Mr Malfoy's wand to the ground, another set of lines added their golden and warm summer glow to the illumination. Along the branches, sunflowers and ripe corn broke out of the earth.

The next one to step into the circle was Draco.

"Nature embraces and protects all of her children. But as summer has to make place for autumn, childhood has to give way to adulthood. As we take our place beside our mothers and fathers, we bow before her and are prepared to pass on what our ancestors received from her. Mother Nature, we honour you." The lines around Draco glowed with the warm and lush colours of autumn, mushrooms were growing, and the ground was littered with colourful leaves, nuts and delicious-looking red apples.

Harry saw his friend stagger briefly and remembered Severus telling him that the amount of magic put into the blessing ritual was more than an average wizard could handle. As fascinated as he was with the ritual so far, his stomach started to squirm. What if he had not enough magic?

Beside Draco, an old wizard stepped into the snow-covered part of the circle. He had only a few strands of white hair left on his head, and his face was full of deep wrinkles. He was tall and thin, and looked like a breeze could snap him. Harry recognized the old Professor for Magical History.

Professor Henry Lenton spoke with a strong voice nobody would have expected in such a fragile body.

"Nature is infinite, but her creations are not. As nature sleeps in winter, gathering strength for spring, someday we go to sleep forever in her embrace. There are no beginnings without an end, the equilibrium maintained by the circle of life and death. Mother Nature, we honour you." He brought his wand down to the lit lines and branches, their light giving the snow he stood on an ethereal glitter. Half of the outer circle was now illuminated.

"Nature surrounds us, Magic fills us. We honour you, Nature, and await your blessing." Lord Slytherin brought his wand down again, and a light breeze enveloped the circled area, smelling of fresh flowers and sweet berries. Another movement of the Lord's wand and Harry felt warm summer sun on his skin and the taste of ripe apples and nuts on his tongue. It was in stark contrast to the perfect winter day around them.

"We are here to honour Nature, the one grounding us."

Harry felt the ground under his feet tremble slightly and suddenly he had the feeling his awareness had spread wide, far outside of his body.

"We are here to honour Magic, the one connecting us with Nature and all her creation."

The next to step into the circle was the Professor for Arithmancy, Percy Weasley. Harry had seen him as a child the few times he had been allowed to go outside of his room at the rebel camp, but he was sure Professor Weasley did not remember him. At Hogwarts, Harry did not see him often, as he normally avoided the dungeons.

"Magic is light. She is healing and protecting. She is finding and helping. She is peace and calm. Mother Magic, we honour you." The lines around Professor Weasley shined in a pure white colour, nearly blinding Harry when he looked directly at them.

The Professor for Defence, Regulus Black, took his place inside the circle, his dark hair falling in gentle waves around his thin face. Harry remembered that the first time he had seen the Professor, he had had a panic attack. Professor Black resembled his brother, Harry's godfather and member of the rebels Sirius Black, strongly. It had taken a month till Harry had believed his guardian that it was not Sirius in a poor disguise. By now, whenever Regulus visited Severus for a cup of tea and Harry sat with them, he enjoyed the quiet and calm personality of Professor Black, even if he was still reserved with the man.

"Magic is grey. She is defending and shielding. She is searching and connecting. She is balance. Mother Magic, we honour you." The light surrounding Professor Black shone in black and white, sometimes merging to grey, sometimes swirling around each other.

Beside Harry, Severus stepped into the circle.

"Magic is dark. She is attacking and destroying. She is losing and binding. She is chaos and passion. Mother Magic, we honour you." Harry did not know how it was possible that something could glow in something darker then black, but that was what happened when Severus pointed his wand to the ground.

By now, the different aspects of magic: tranquillity, balance, chaos, passion, peace and composure, were circling around them. The air felt charged with power.

Harry gulped and stepped into the circle, instead of a wand he placed his hand over his heart, palm flat on his chest.

Severus had explained to him, that normally this part was done by a wizard proficient in Blood Magic. From the start of the ritual till this part, the wizard would direct his magic into his blood, gathering it there. Depending on the skill and magical strength it would be released then either by directing it through the wand, losing some of its potency this way, or by opening a small wound and letting a few drops of blood fall to the ground.

As Harry was not able to use a wand and making a cut would be detrimental, they decided he would use his hand like a wand and see what Magic would make of it. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Magic is blood. She is filling and strengthening. She is weapon and sacrifice. She is gift and burden. She is power. Mother Magic, we honour you." Harry could feel his magic swirling in his blood as an answer to the ritual, quite similar to when a major vision announced itself.

"Nature is blood. She is nourishing and sustaining. She is anchor and restrain. She is life and death. She is might. Mother Nature, we honour you." As he pointed his right hand to the ground, his magic skyrocketed in his veins.

Then, he felt a gentle pressure on the inside of his right wrist and a small cut appeared, tiny drops of blood escaping and falling to the ground. The magic in his blood burst out of him in a powerful wave, reaching for the ritual magic sustained by the other wizards and witches in the circle, merging with the offered magic there. The lines and branches at his feet glowed in all shades of red, while some other glimmered, not white, but colourless, nonetheless.

Ripples of power spread through the circle outwards over the castle grounds as all the aspects of magic and nature welcomed the magical power present to them.

Harry felt more of his magic gathering outside of his body despite the huge amount he already gave, and felt it reach for the river of time. But there was no pain and his head stayed clear, his awareness still stretched out beyond his body. He could feel the other participant of the blessing, each one of them a small gentle pressure on his mind, body and magic.

Beside this, everything of him was nearly painfully aware of the powerful wizard leading the ritual. Lord Slytherin's magic holding the reins of all the strands of magic leading to him. The magical power of the Lord so oppressive and overwhelming, the air felt heavy around Harry.

"Nature is might, Magic is power. We honour you for your gifts you bestowed upon us and bow in gratitude." Every single one of the present wizards and witches bowed deeply as Lord Slytherin spoke.

Then, Harry felt the bit of magic from him, which was not part of the offering, but still linked to the huge gathering, connect with the river of time. An answering ripple came through the connection and then a vision slammed into him. The people around him staggered briefly as the magic of time was added to the ritual.

 _He sees Hogwarts covered in snow, children laughing in the background. The snow gives way to green grass and flowers of all kinds. Spring unfolds and turns to summer. Warm sun on the skin. Harry watches the trees change to all the colour of autumn. As snow covers again the grounds he becomes aware of the presence of several other beings beside him._

 _They watch as magic envelops the castle in strong arms and nature strengthening the foundations. They witness season after season… years of happy children coming and going from the castle, save and protected. Years become centuries and still Hogwarts stands strong and protective._

Harry came out of the, for him, most unusual vision of his life. The intakes of breath around him and the knowledge that time had connected with Nature and Magic in this blessing, confirmed that he had not been alone in the vision.

This gentle vision was full of promises, promises of safety and protection. He was not sure who would benefit from this promise, but it was there. As long as Hogwarts was standing strong, children would be safe here.

Lord Slytherin spoke again, and nothing in his voice revealed that something unusual had happened.

"As our ancestors before us, we, your loving children, await your blessing." With a wave of his wand, Lord Slytherin gathered all the offered magic and sent it into the ground. The runes shone so brightly that Harry had to close his eyes.

The pressure of the magical power around them was nearly too much for a moment, pressing down on his ear drums, making it hard to breathe, then it settled into the grounds and the stones of the old castle, spreading everywhere. Harry felt the wards around Hogwarts strengthening, felt the violent magic in the Forbidden Forest calming and felt the answer of protection resonating back to them.

He was utterly drained, the wound on his wrist had closed and his magic was only a whisper under his skin. But he also felt connected, with the wizards and witches around him, with Hogwarts itself, with the sleeping nature in the earth and the tingle of magic in the air.

"We thank you for your blessing and swear to honour it. May Nature rise, and Magic prevail." With the traditional closing words and a swirl of his wand, Lord Slytherin brought the ritual to an end.

The light from the runes disappeared and the participants left the circle. Most of them stumbling, clearly exhausted. Harry had not even the energy to move at all. He swayed and would have sank to his knees if strong arms would not have caught him.

He looked up into the red eyes of Lord Slytherin.

"It seems, every interaction between us so far ends with you falling into my arms, Mr Potter." He flashed a grin and Harry would have glared at him if he would have had the energy, but then his brain caught up with him and he was utterly flabbergasted. Had the Lord made a joke right now?

Lord Slytherin smirked at him as if he read Harry's thoughts on his face.

"I must say, I did not know what to expect of the ritual with your participation, Mr Potter, but I find myself fascinated. That was most unusual."

Then, Madam Pomfrey was there, fussing over the exhausted wizards and witches, handing out Pepper-Up Potions, hushing them to the castle.

Lord Slytherin stepped away from Harry, sent him one of his intense gazes before turning around and walked back to the castle himself.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 15th of August 2018

Last edited: 10th of July 2019


	9. Gringotts

**Disclaimer:** Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter or anything in this universe. Damn.

For everything else see Prologue (other disclaimers and warnings).

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing and favouring.

This chapter took longer than I planned to write, I would apologize for it, but it was not because of laziness. Real life with all its problems had its way to prioritise my attention. I am very grateful for your patience. I try to get the next chapter out faster, but no promises.

As a thank you for your patience you get an extra-long chapter. I had planned to spread the content over two chapters, but in the end decided to make one long one instead of two short chapters. It fitted better this way.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the wonderful **GeMerope** , many many thanks and hugs and kisses to her.

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Gringotts**

Harry walked slowly back to the castle, Severus at his side. Both were still exhausted from the blessing ritual. The Pepper-Up Potions had helped, but they were eager to reach the warmth of the castle and get a cup of tea and something to eat.

"So… err… you also saw the vision?" Harry mentally berated himself for stuttering.

"Yes Harry, I think everyone who was part of the ritual circle witnessed it. It was most unusual."

"And… what else was unusual at this blessing? Did I… did I butcher it?" He quietly voiced his fear.

Severus chuckled slightly.

"No, the ritual went exceptionally well. I explained to you before, that the more magic is presented and led into the ground, the more the wards of Hogwarts will be reinforced. At the same time, our connection with magic intensifies and our magical core is strengthened and settled. A strong core is more stable, replenishes faster and can endure a more severe and faster magical depletion without collapsing."

"Wouldn't it then be best to let the magically strongest wizards and witches participate and let them give as much magic as they can?"

Severs beside him smirked.

"What do you think we did today? But being magically strong is not enough, you also need control and an already strong core to survive the magical depletion during the blessing. Another important factor is, that the witches and wizards have to fit their part in the ritual, either be it the nature or magic blessings part."

"That means Draco is…?"

"Yes. He fitted the part of the child who is on the step to adulthood, he has exceptional control over his magic and his core is quite large and stable. That he is the child of the two people who presented spring / motherhood and summer / fatherhood was a bonus and empowered the ritual further."

They stepped into the entrance hall and both sighed in relief as the doors closed behind them, keeping the cold winter air outside. Harry stole a quick glance at his guardian, while they both handed their winter cloaks to a waiting house-elf.

"So, my participation didn't disturb or weaken the blessing?"

"No, on the contrary. What was unusual, was the amount of magic presented in the ritual. I already performed some blessings with Lord Slytherin, and these were always already quite powerful. I know you can't control your magic and therefore you had no say in how much you contributed, but Harry, the magical power you displayed felt on par with Lord Slytherin."

Harry stumbled and looked in shock at his guardian.

"You are kidding."

Severus shook his head and smirked again.

"No, I really hope we find a way to measure non-core magic. I always suspected that despite your non-existing magical core, the amount of magic you have in your blood is extraordinarily high. It becomes tangible when your magic gathers around you before a vision. The connection in the ritual today gave me the opportunity to get a direct and better feeling for it and the only person whose magic felt comparable to it is Lord Slytherin."

"That means…" Harry felt silent, unsure what he even wanted to ask.

"That means that with your help, the blessing strengthened the castle's wards more than we anticipated and all the wizards who participated benefited as well. My core is nearly depleted for the moment, but I can already feel that it is more stable and strengthened. Your participation made not only Hogwarts safer, but everyone stronger."

Severus sent Harry one of his rare real smiles and Harry ducked his head and grinned.

They stepped into the Great Hall - Harry with curiosity as it was only his second time, and last time he had been in no condition to get a good look - where everyone else had already arrived and tea and biscuits were waiting for them. He only got a glimpse of the enchanted ceiling before his arm was seized and a grinning blond was by his side.

Draco nodded in greeting to Severus.

"Severus, I heard from father what will happen in the next days and after the display at the blessing today, I think it is a good idea to get Harry acquaintanced with some people his age. He has to get used to more people, so I will kidnap him now."

Severus nodded in agreement and smirked at Harry, who sent pleading looks to his guardian, then the Seer was dragged through the hall to one of the long tables by his friend, where a few young people were already seated.

Harry recognized them as Draco's friends and classmates. Some of them, he had seen in the hallways or in the potions classroom when he had had to assist with the older students' potions, some others he had seen in visions. And he clearly remembered Blaise Zabini standing behind Draco when he had woken from the vision in the Great Hall at Yule.

"Draco, I…"

Before Harry could even phrase what he wanted to say, Draco interrupted him.

"Yes Scarhead, you have to. I heard from Father that you will be enrolled as a Hogwarts student after the holidays. Don't you want to know some of you peers?"

"I already know you," Harry mumbled, but followed Draco slowly.

"That's not enough. Hogwarts never had a student join so late and till then the rumours of you being a Seer and in service of our Lord will be confirmed. This means you have to be prepared for the vultures. Literary everyone, not only your sixth-year peers, will try and suck up to you or will try and destroy you because you upset the hierarchy. Can you honestly say you know how to deal with that?" Draco stopped, turned around and looked Harry in the eyes.

Harry sighed and cringed. The blond certainly had a point. He had no social skills whatsoever and was not used to a lot of people.

"No."

"Then let me introduce to some of the people I trust and, in some cases, even like. They are mostly from families which are already in the Dark Lord's favour and will have your back."

Harry sighed again, it sounded logical. He hated how logical it sounded. Why could he not hide in the dungeons forever?

"All right."

"Don't sound like I am leading you to your execution." Draco smirked and led him further down the table. None of the students sitting there were looking at them, but Harry was sure his hesitation had been noticed and they all wore Slytherin house robes. He groaned mentally. Lucky him, more Slytherins he had to deal with.

Draco pushed him into a seat and sat beside him.

"So, let me introduce you all to Harry Potter, Blood and Court Seer to Lord Slytherin." The blond sounded smug, and Harry was sure that because Draco was the only one that knew him and was introducing him, it gave the blonde even more leverage in the confusing dance that was the Slytherin house hierarchy.

He sighed… again.

Let Draco have his fun, but Harry was pessimistic about really fitting in, regardless in which house he would be sorted. He would be the odd new kid, intruding the dormitory. They all knew each other for nearly six years now.

Draco meanwhile, gestured to the dark-skinned teen opposite of him.

"Blaise Zabini, heir to the Zabini family."

It was the first time Harry got a closer look at Zabini. He was certainly handsome, with his high cheekbones, the long-slanted dark eyes, the full-lips and his perfectly styled dark hair. Harry instantly had to think how Severus had wanted a hair for the Polyjuice Potion, he could imagine how Zabini had looked outraged by the demand. He snickered and got a slightly confused look by Zabini for it.

Harry coughed to hide his amusement and nodded to the teen. Draco by his side snickered also, guessing right what his friend had imagined and introduced the witch beside him.

"Pansy Parkinson of the Parkinson family."

Pansy Parkinson was not pretty per se, with her rather hard and rough features, freckles, too large eyes and broad mouth, but her brown eyes were warm, and her chin-length dark brown hair fell in beautiful silky waves around her face.

She smiled at him and the expression softened her features and made her warm eyes sparkle. Harry hesitantly smiled back, her eyes reminded him of someone.

"Are you the daughter of Healer Parkinson?" The small woman with the warm brown eyes, who had helped Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary after the battle at King's Cross, had been kind but strict to him.

Parkinson looked startled and then nodded.

"Ah yes, you had to stay at the Hospital Wing for a while. Yes, my mother is one of the Healers who stayed to help. That is also the reason why I am still here. Normally, we would have joined my father and siblings for our own blessing ritual at Parkinson Manor, but my mother didn't want to leave the critical cases."

"She took very good care of me," Harry told her, and Parkinson smiled again, this time a big and proud smile.

"She is one of the best Healers at St. Mungo's."

Draco gestured to the witch beside Zabini, continuing the introduction.

"Daphne Greengrass, heiress of the Greengrass family."

Where Parkinson was rough but warm, Greengrass was all smooth clear perfection, gorgeous but cold. Her pale skin was flawless, she had delicate cheekbones, full lips, a straight nose and clear blue eyes. Her long blond hair fell in carefully styled locks down her back.

But when Harry nodded to her and he got a small smile in return, he was not sure if her somehow unapproachable exterior matched her personality. He was not good at reading people.

"And Tracey Davis, her mother is the chief-editor of _Witch Weekly_."

The witch at the other side of Zabini scrutinized him and nodded. She was petite, with long, straight black hair and piercing grey eyes.

"The others you will meet either at the New Year's ball or after the holidays, their families came and took them home. Most of the old families do their own blessings to strengthen their ancestor's house and wards, so only a few students stayed. The majority are Half-bloods or Muggle-borns, and their families thought it was safer here after the rebel attack on King's Cross. The few Pure-bloods who stayed have mostly older siblings to participate in the blessing, like Pansy or the Patil twins," Draco explained and gestured to one of the other tables where two Indian-looking girls their age were sitting together and talking animatedly.

"Why did you stay here and not go home for the Yule holidays?" Harry asked the Slytherins around him. The Malfoys stayed after the incidents at the train station and preferred to take part in Lord Slytherin's blessing ritual and Parkinson seemed to have stayed to keep her mother company and she had said something about siblings, so they would take care of the blessing ritual.

Harry's question arose strange glances from the others. He sighed, had he managed to offend them already?

Draco, at his side, chuckled.

"You have to excuse Harry; he did not grow up with the same etiquette lessons like us. He does not ask something so personal to offend you, he simply asked because he is interested."

The strange looks disappeared and most of them were grinning now, Parkinson laughed quietly. They all seemed to relax slightly also. So, it had not been appropriate to ask directly why they did not go home? Why? He would later ask Severus or Draco.

"His bluntness is refreshing. You grew up with Professor Snape?" Parkinson asked Harry directly.

He nodded. "Yes, he is my guardian since I came to Hogwarts at eleven."

"So, it was only you and Professor Snape?"

"Yes, but Draco visited quite often. Why?"

"Then your frankness is even more understandable. Professor Snape is not one for small-talk and courtesies," Zabini answered with a smirk and took a sip of his teacup.

"To answer your question: my Mother is on her honeymoon with her eighth husband, and I really did not want to intrude on them. I am not even sure that she knows it's the Yule holidays." He shrugged and poured himself another cup of tea, adding a large amount of milk and a criminal amount of sugar.

Harry shuddered at the sight and prepared his own tea, a little bit milk without sugar, then his mind registered what Zabini had said.

"Eight husbands?" he spluttered. But the dark teen only shrugged again, looking unconcerned.

"Yes. Somehow she always finds a new one."

"And they normally disappear mysteriously after some time. What was the longest?" Parkinson remarked.

"Four years, her third husband," Zabini answered dryly and smirked at Harry when he saw him looking still shocked at him.

"My Mother collects husbands, rich husbands to be more specific, and after a few months or years, they disappear or die of an incurable illness or some accident. Each time, a will is found, and my mother inherits most of the wealth. She is called Black Widow for a reason. Did Draco not tell you?"

"Err…" Harry looked helplessly at Draco, who chuckled.

"Yes, I told him, but Harry here is often with his head in the clouds and does not listen or deem it necessary to remember. We don't know what really happens with her husbands. There is never evidence that she has anything to do with it, only rumours."

"And there are still men who are willing to marry her? Even with the rumours?" Harry still could not believe it.

"Yes, but to understand you'd have to meet my Mother," Zabini laughed.

"To put it simply, Lady Zabini is one of the most beautiful women you will ever have the chance to see. Men flock to her, they simply cannot stay away. And some of the very rich men in this world are very stupid or only think with one part of their anatomy," Parkinson quipped in, grinning. And when she saw Harry's glance in her direction, she made an unmistakable gesture with her hand. Harry only could stare at her. He never met anyone like the brown-eyed girl. Well, he did not know a lot of people, but still…

Davis choked but grinned, while Greengrass only shook her head in exasperation.

"Pansy, stop being vulgar. Harry is much too innocent for this kind of conversation." Draco made an attempt to cover Harry's ears with his hands, who growled at him and swatted his hands aside. The Slytherins around them only laughed.

Somehow, Harry could not contain a small smile of his own, it did seem he could fit in with people of his age.

"Oh my, he is adorable. Draco, I think I have to be angry with you that you kept him to yourself for so long," Parkinson cooed, and Harry regarded her sceptically and a little affronted. He was not adorable, thank you very much, even if he was a little bit smaller than most boys (and some girls) his age.

"I quite agree Pansy. But we really have to do something about his clothes. This dreadful grey colour does nothing for his complexion. With those uniquely green eyes and black hair he will be stunning in Slytherin colours. The girls and a lot of boys will be all over him." Greengrass looked him up and down as if he was her next meal. Harry did not like the sparkle in her eyes, at all.

"Yes, grey is definitely not his colour. Everything grey will be banished from his wardrobe." Parkinson practically gleamed. Harry looked panicked at Draco, but his friend only laughed and shook his head.

"If they decided you are their next victim, you can do nothing. Nobody, really nobody, is stupid enough to try and reign in the combined terror of Pansy and Daphne on a fashion trip." The blond patted his shoulder.

"And that high collar, it makes you look too stiff, open it and let us see the lovely neck we are working with." Parkinson reached across the table to open the top button of Harry's robe to loosen the collar but was stopped by Harry's hand on her wrist quite forcefully. The brown-eyed girl looked confused at him.

"No thank you. I like the high collar."

"But…"

"I appreciate the concern, but most of my wardrobe will be decided by Lord Slytherin tomorrow, if I understood him correctly." Mentally Harry thanked the red-eyed man, even if in the morning he had not been pleased.

When it looked like Parkinson did not want to let the matter go, Harry shifted to look at Davis, smiled and asked her why she decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. The girl's grin did tell him she knew he was using her to change the subject, but she complied.

"My Mom thought it would be safer for me to remain at Hogwarts and she will attend the New Year's Ball, so I will see her then. And as we don't have an ancestral home, we normally only take part in the public blessing ritual of our home village." Davis carefully selected a piece of chocolate cake while talking.

Harry frowned.

"But don't you have wards at your house? Would it not help to reinforce them?"

"Not really, it is fairly new, therefore not much family magic settled into the grounds and the property is too small to have focus points." Davis shrugged.

"But…" Harry started, but Draco nudged him from the side.

"I think that is something our Professor for Warding should answer."

"Did the Headmaster find a new one?" Greengrass inquired.

"Yes, but I don't know who it is. I think it will be announced after everyone is back from the winter holidays," Draco confirmed.

"What happened with the old one?" Harry tried to remember who had been the Professor for Warding the last years. But it never had been a subject he had interest in, so he never had interacted with the Professor and he could not remember if Severus or Draco had talked about the teacher.

"Old age. So, Harry, what was that display of magic at the blessing? Even from the side lines it was noticeable." Zabini looked at him in a way that Harry certainly did not like. What was with Slytherins and intense expressions?

"I can't control my magic directly. The amount of magic which wanted to contribute to the blessing presented itself," he shrugged, not wanting to talk about it yet knowing he had to say something.

"You talk as if it something alive, with its own will." Zabini's eyes had a predatory gleam in them.

Harry thoughtfully tapped his chin and tried to ignore the way Zabini looked at him.

"I never had thought about it like this, but yes, sometimes I feel like it has a mind of its own. Like I am only the vessel for my magic." He frowned and picked up his cup to hide behind it. He did not like to talk about it so openly, with people he had met a few minutes before, even if they were Draco's friends.

As if he had read his mind, a hand settled on his shoulder, making him jump slightly.

"Mr Potter, if you are finished here, we have an appointment. Severus will accompany us," the distinguish baritone of Lord Slytherin cut into the conversation.

* * *

"Your ward certainly impressed me at the blessing, Severus," Marvolo addressed the Potions Master as he took his seat beside him.

"Not only you. I knew the amount of magic in his blood was exceptionally high, the magical pressure around him when he has a vision is proof of it. But to feel it directly like in the ritual was astonishing," Severus admitted.

Marvolo laughed.

"Oh yes, even I nearly staggered when his magic connected to the ritual. I never felt something similar. And I don't mean the power, but the nature of his magic. It is not light, grey or black. Even if a Wizard uses Blood Magic, the magic retains their innate orientation, it merely uses a different conduit, but Mr Potter's magic did not feel like any magic I felt before. It had no colour."

Marvolo smiled, it had been a unique experience. The little Seer's magic had felt warm and deep. Life had become so interesting since he had discovered Mr Potter's existence.

He glanced to the Slytherin table and watched the Seer interact with the Slytherin students there. From the corner of his eye, he saw Severus do the same, but with a slight worried frown on his face.

"Severus, he is not a child anymore."

The man sighed. "In some ways, he is still a child, and apart from Draco he never interacted on a friendly basis with other teenagers his age. After all these years since he became my ward, I find myself highly protective of him, especially because he can't even protect himself with magic. Every dispute could end in him getting hurt and having a vision. Over the last years I discovered that, however I try to protect him, trouble always finds him."

"I don't think you are the first parent with these problems. The worries of parenthood. A few years ago, I never would have imagined you to act like a normal father," Marvolo teased his friend.

Severus scowled.

"Harry did not have an easy life so far and you know my stance on any kind of abuse. I want him to be safe and happy, but I fear that your wish to make him known as your Court Seer will bring him into the focus of a lot of dangerous people. Therefore, let me make one thing clear." The Potions Master looked at him intensively.

"Let us forget for a moment that you are my Lord. That is my child you are using, Marvolo. And if I find that you can't protect him sufficiently, all your power and manipulations will not be enough to protect you against me. If my child will get hurt in your grand scheme, I will end you and there will be nothing left of your body to bury. I know more poison than you could ever have the chance to detect. Only to be clear, my friend." Severus' smile could have cut steel.

Marvolo never had been intimated by anybody in his life, but he could not prevent a slight feeling of unease settling in his stomach. He knew what a determined Severus could do and was suddenly glad that Severus was his friend and not his foe.

"You don't have to threaten me, Severus. Mr Potter is much more worth for me happy and safe." He took a sip of his tea. "You want to accompany us to Gringotts today to prove your theory?"

Severus was not needed for the trip, but perhaps it would be beneficial to have him there.

"Certainly."

"Then let us collect Mr Potter. He looks highly uncomfortable and in need of an escape from overly eager and curious students." He gestured to the student table, where the Seer shifted uneasy in his seat and tried to hide behind a teacup.

Both men stood and Marvolo went to collect the Seer, who jumped slightly when he rested his hand on Mr Potter's shoulder.

"Mr Potter, if you are finished here, we have an appointment. Severus will accompany us."

The thankful little smile he got lightened the green eyes and he guided Mr Potter out of the Great Hall.

* * *

They used the fireplace in Lord Slytherin's office to travel to Gringotts. Harry hated floo traveling, but at least it was better than side-along Apparition. Harry just about managed not to fall flat on his face as he stumbled out of the fireplace in Gringotts' public floo room, coughing and with a certain amount of dirt and ash on his clothes. He hurried to the side while sending Severus, who smirked and raised an eyebrow, a disgruntled look.

The floo connection flared up again and Harry watched with envy as Lord Slytherin stepped through, elegantly and without any flecks of dirt on him, while Severus cleaned Harry's robes with a flick of his wand for him.

Sighing slightly, he followed the Lord into the small entrance hall of the bank. Looking around with interest, he saw the sunshine coming through open bronze doors, leading down a white staircase into a street full of people. At the other side, closed silver doors were flanked by two goblins in scarlet and gold uniforms. The doors opened before Harry could read the scripture on them and he hurried after the two older men.

Lord Slytherin walked swiftly along the long counters to stand before one with an old looking goblin sitting at it.

"May your gold flow."

The goblin looked up and smirked a frightening smile full of sharp teeth.

"And your enemy lay at your feet. What can I do for you, Lord Slytherin?" He sounded almost rude with his sharp bark, but Harry was unsure if it was the normal way for goblins to speak.

"I enquire a meeting with Ranglock." The goblin straightened immediately.

"And what can the manager of Gringotts do for the leader of magical Britain?"

"That will be between him and me."

The goblin stared with scrutiny at Lord Slytherin, seemingly searching for something in his face, before he nodded and barked something in a language Harry could not understand, to a young goblin standing at the side. Severus and Harry were ignored during the whole interaction.

Five minutes later, they were led through white marble corridors into a grand office, filled with documents and books and a lot of interesting artefacts and weapons.

"Don't touch anything," Severus quietly reminded Harry, who nodded and stayed closed to his guardian, even when his fingers twitched to examine a beautiful silvery dagger no longer than his hand.

A goblin with dark hair, large pointed ears and sharp eyes was waiting behind the enormous desk for them.

"Lord Slytherin, you requested a meeting with me. What can I do for you?" The goblin, Ranglock, gestured to the seats in front of his desk, inviting them to sit.

As there where only two chairs, Harry stood beside Severus' chair. Ranglock gave him a short, questioning glance, before he concentrated on Lord Slytherin again.

"We are here not for a request, or not entirely, but more because of a question." The red-eyed man chose his words carefully.

Ranglock nodded, leaned forward and rested his chin on his very long fingers, signalling him to continue.

"Mr Potter here," Lord Slytherin shortly gestured to Harry, "had his magical core tested at the age of eleven with the normally conducted test for Wizard and Witches. The result showed that he has a nearly non-existing core. The small amount of core magic verified that he has a magical background and is not a Muggle. Accordingly, he was registered as a Squib. But in the last days, certain events indicated otherwise."

Ranglocks expression did not change during Lord Slytherin's explanation, but his eyes glinted suspiciously.

"And what do you want to ask now from me?"

"We are here to enquire if the goblins know of a method to detect and measure non-core magic. I already set the Unspeakables in the Ministry on the task, but so far nothing came out of it. Not even the private Library of Salazar Slytherin contained any hint of it."

"Why do you think the goblins would know of such a method?"

"Goblin magic is entirely different than the magic of wizards and witches. You don't need wands to channel your magic, whereas only very powerful wizards can perform magic wandlessly. But for goblins, this wandless use is intrinsic and part of their innate magic."

Harry suppressed a chuckle at the careful way Lord Slytherin worded the explanation. Even he knew that the right to wield a wand had been a sour subject between goblins and Wizards for a long time. He had to congratulate Lord Slytherin, he gave the impression that the goblins had an advantage because they were independent of wands.

"So, you are hoping that we have a way to detect and determine magic that is not located in the core. Why? Wizardkind was always focused on core-magic, everything else was inferior." Ranglock sounded carefully neutral.

"What I witnessed over the last days made it quite clear that what we knew and regarded as facts about magic is obsolete. Magic is not bound by our concepts of it. I wish to change this outdated view of magic. According to our laws, wizard and witches without a certain amount of core-magic are regarded as Squibs and therefore treated differently. The Squib laws are there for a reason, but if there are wizards who are regarded as Squibs only because they do not have core-magic but specialize in a different kind of magic, that is not right and goes against everything I want for the magical community in Great Britain. I want magic to prevail in any kind of form. What does it matter if a wizard has magic in the core or somewhere else in his body? It does not matter, he or she _has_ magic. And the manifestation of non-core magic seems to be linked with the resurgence of magical gifts which we thought to be long-lost."

Harry listened, fascinated. Lord Slytherin sounded honest and passionate and Harry was certain, if he had not witnessed (and felt) how good a manipulator the Lord was, he would believe him instantly.

"So, you wizards finally realized that there is more to magic than you ever could imagine, comprehend or control. Took you long enough." He sneered with a razor-sharp smile.

There was an astonished silence, Harry had not heard anybody talk like this to the Dark Lord, and he waited for the fall-out. Lord Slytherin had a temper even Harry had heard about. He tried to imagine a shouting match between the Lord and the Goblin. A snort escaped him. Suddenly all eyes were on him and he shifted nervously.

"Say young man, Mr Potter, right?" Harry nodded. "What would you say if someone ask you if you have magic?" Ranglock addressed him directly.

Harry shrugged. What an odd question.

"I would say that I have it. I feel it under my skin, in my blood. I know what it can do. It may be different to the magic of normal wizards, but it is magic nonetheless and nobody can convince me otherwise, regardless of their Ministry test."

"Ahh, a wise answer. You know, young wizard, Goblins also don't have core magic. We have no magical core as we are magical beings or creatures as your Ministry wants to classify us. We are entirely made of magic, like so many other beings."

Harry looked surprised at him. "Do you measure the amount of magic in your children?"

Ranglock smiled again, but somehow it looked far kinder than before.

"Yes, we do. The location and amount of magic determines for which career field the Goblin is predestined."

"So… you could…" Harry did not dare to hope. Yes, living as a Squib had been the right choice when he did not want other people to know what he was, when he had been afraid. But now people already knew, and he wanted some of the privileges that came with the status of being a wizard. Even if he could not wield a wand, he had magic and wanted to be seen as an equal, at least to the students.

The goblin nodded at him, with an understanding in his eyes that stole Harry's breath, then he looked at Lord Slytherin again.

"We have a way to detect magic wherever it is located, and we can measure and determine it. Not only the amount but also the – we call it variety of it. In core magic, this is limited to black, grey and light. Are you sure you want this? It will change a lot."

Lord Slytherin nodded in confirmation. "It is the right of every wizard, independent of his kind of magic, to be recognized and treated as a wizard."

Ranglock leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.

"Very well. But these tests will always only be performed by a goblin here at Gringotts. We will not give you the knowledge of how exactly it is done, as you could not perform it even if you wanted, it is based on goblin magic."

"And I am sure you want to be compensated?" The red-eyed Wizard smirked.

"Certainly."

"We will sit and draw a contract, after you showed us the test and perform it with Mr Potter here."

Ranglock looked at Harry again.

"That will be interesting, as we never performed this test on a non-goblin. Say, Mr Potter, do you know what magic you have? Can you specify what you can do? It would help to interpret the results."

Harry glanced first at Severus, then at Lord Slytherin, both nodded.

"I have Blood Magic. I am a Blood Seer, every time I sustain an injury and bleed, my magic shows me visions."

The eyes of the goblin grew impossible wide and he clapped with his hands in delight. He was visibly pleased and regarded Harry with something between fright and awe.

"Ahh, a Blood Seer, a _sanguis vates_. It is a delight to have one walking among us again after all this time. Even in old times, your kind was rare. If you are really one, you are a very powerful young man. It takes a huge amount of magic to interact with time magic. It will be the pleasure of the goblin nation to help you receive the acknowledgement a _sanguis vates_ deserves. Please follow me to the ritual room."

Ranglock stood up and went directly to Harry, bowing slightly before him and gestured him to follow. He completely ignored Lord Slytherin and Severus for the moment.

With a bewildered glance at his guardian and Lord, Harry followed.

* * *

They walked through the white corridors of Gringotts, Ranglock barking orders to other Goblins, who started running ahead. Harry was perplexed. Was being a Blood Seer such a huge thing?

"Oh yes," Ranglock answered when he asked, obviously happy to talk with him, while Severus and Lord Slytherin trailed behind them.

"We thought _sanguis vates_ to be extinct and with the state of the wizarding world in the last centuries we believed to never see one again. Your existence is a gift and a trial from Mother Magic," Ranglock replied in a friendly tone, or as friendly as a Goblin could sound.

"For whom?"

"As s _anguis vates_ are always from wizardkind, I would say mostly for them."

"I can understand how some would see it as a gift, but a trial?" Harry was sceptical. It was a trial for himself to be one, but for other people?

Ranglock smirked, which was really frightening with all those sharp teeth.

"It is a trial, Mr Potter. Dependent on how the _sanguis vates_ is treated, he can decide to share his visions or not, but that is not the main reason why we see it as a trial. What do you know about your kind?"

"Nothing much. Only what I experienced myself."

"We Goblins have historical reports far older than any of Wizardkind. The magic of a _sanguis vates_ may seem to be limited to receiving visions, but that is not completely true. With training and practice, it is possible to direct your magic in your blood, and it can be used to utilize the innate healing magic of a _sanguis vates_ via skin to skin contact. A young Seer once rescued the Goblin King this way, earning our respect and friendship."

He could use magic? Actively? Even if it would be only healing via skin to skin contact, it would further prove he was not simply a vessel for visions. Harry was baffled in an excited way. Finally, here was someone who knew more about what he was.

"We have a few stories about _sanguis vates_ , a lot of them hold warnings, because of the huge amount of magic needed to be a _sanguis vates_ , even if it and the sensitivity to visions differs from person to person. And the magic can be rather volatile under certain circumstances. There was once a young Seer who lived during wartime, full of violence and destruction. He saw nothing else in his visions and went mad before he even reached adulthood. It happened quite often if the Seer was not strong enough in character and mind." Ranglock paused for a moment to bark something at another Goblin.

"But the story that is mostly told in warning among my kind is about a girl, whose gift was abused by others. When she broke free, she was bitter and angry at the world and at her magic. She never used her gift again, her magic went wild and when she could no longer repress it, it broke free, destroying everything and everyone around her. As with every magical being, her magic reacted strongly to her emotions. Her fears and hatred directed her magic to destroy. I think you call something similar in a common wizard and witch an obscurus."

Harry could sympathize with this unknown girl, but he never really had hated his ability. It had helped him to escape Dumbledore's clutches. It had showed him the world while he was locked in his room.

The soft pulse of magic under his skin always had been a feeling of comfort for him. Even when he had been afraid of the visions, he never had been afraid of his magic and therefore had never tried to repress it. He had tried to ignore or suppress visions, but never his magic.

Yes, his magic was the reason for Dumbledore's treatment of him, but it also had brought him to Severus, Draco and Hogwarts.

He shuddered. What had happened with this female Seer, could have easily happened to him.

While they talked, they reached the end of a long corridor. Ranglock opened the doors and led them into a completely white room. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything was pure white, blurring the outlines so it was hard to see how big the room actually was.

In the middle of the floor was a rune circle with interwoven lines Harry could not follow with his eyes, they seemed to shift and swirl around each other. In between, different gems and stones were spread out. In the middle of the circle, a small round area bordered with black stones was free of runes.

"The test is quite simple and fast. Mr Potter will lie down in the middle of the ritual rune circle after removing his clothes. The ritual will be conducted by Goblins specialized in detecting magic. The rune circle will do the rest."

"What will it do?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"It will map out your body and search for traces of magic. Every magic that is detected will be evaluated in terms of power level, stability and variety. The test itself is very invasive but does not hurt, you will feel mild discomfort and fatigue afterwards. What is important is that you are in your full magical capacity. The ritual has three steps. In the first, the ritual magic will search your body for traces of magic. In the second step, the magic will be examined and categorized. In the last step, your magic will be coaxed out of your body to measure the amount you have, the magic will then flow into the ritual circle and the stones and gems there. The results can be read off the runes, stones and gems."

Harry let this sink in for a moment.

"I participated in the Nature and Magic blessing today. I rested afterwards and had something to eat, but my magic still feels a little subdued."

"Then we will provide a magical replenishing potion, which works with non-core magic." Ranglock went to the still open door and said something to someone outside. A few moments later, several Goblins in white uniforms entered the room, from one of them Ranglock took a vial and handed it to Harry.

Before he even could check the potion itself, it was snatched from his hands. His guardian stood beside him, regarded with one of his glares, opened the vial and sniffed.

Harry sighed; Severus sometimes was too overprotective. "Do you really think I would drink an unfamiliar potion without checking it?"

"As I am the Potions Master and have far more experience with unknown potions, I would still think you would leave the evaluation to me," Severus replied tartly, while examining the potion for its consistence and colour. Then, he let one drop of the liquid fall on his fingers and swallowed it.

Ranglock and Lord Slytherin watched with amusement as the Potions Master inspected the potion will all senses.

After a few moments, Severus handed the vial back to Harry, who rolled his eyes at his guardian.

"So, it is safe to drink?" he asked sarcastically. Severus nodded, and Harry swallowed the potion in one gulp. It tasted somehow of grass and had a strange solid texture, but he instantly could feel magic surge under his skin, making him dizzy for a moment.

Ranglock nodded. "Good, good. Now we can begin. If you please remove your clothes, Mr Potter, and lie in the middle of the circle."

Harry frowned, not happy with the thought that he would be naked in a room full of strangers, his guardian and Lord Slytherin, but he started to remove his robes, nonetheless.

After he discarded everything, he went to lie down in the middle of the rune circle, blushing and embarrassed. He knew that there was not much to look at in regards of his body. Too skinny, too small, bony and full of scars. Somehow it bothered him more that Lord Slytherin was seeing him like this, than the goblin strangers. He sighed again and closed his eyes.

* * *

Marvolo was intrigued by the knowledge the goblins possessed of Blood Seers or _sanguis vates_ , how they called them. As he listened to the tales Ranglock told Mr Potter, he realised how easy it could have been to lose the Seer before he even had him.

They also lived in violent times with his overtake of magical Britain and the rebels still active. How much violence had the Seer already seen when he had been a mere child? How could he have withstood all those visions of destruction and death he certainly had?

If he thought further about what Mr Potter had been through by the hands of Dumbledore, he was thankful for the resilience the young man possessed.

How easy he could have hated his magic, repressing it and turning it destructive. But no, Mr Potter had pulled through everything. And now he even had agreed to use his gift for him. Even with all the pain the visions seemed to bring him. How much determination and strength of character were hidden in the young Seer?

Marvolo felt a sudden delight with the prospect of getting to know and understand the fascinating mind and character behind the young exterior.

With amusement and approval, he watched Severus examining the potion, while the Goblins spread around the rune circle, preparing to start the ritual.

As his gaze wandered to the middle of the circle, he saw Mr Potter lying down, naked, and could not stop himself from examining the young man's body.

Yes, he was small for his age, petite even, and perhaps a little too thin, but this could be changed over the next weeks. What fascinated him the most were the scars all over Mr Potter's body. He had caught glimpses of them already during their talk in the hospital wing, but now he saw them in a full-lit room. Long, thin, short, thick, some straight, others curved, but all of them shone nearly silvery against his pale skin colour.

He knew what these scars represented, knew what they had cost the Seer, knew they were accompanied by pain, knew without his magical gift, Mr Potter certainly would not have these scars, but he was fascinated, nonetheless.

Then, he saw one silvery thin line at his neck, curling nearly completely around and he barely suppressed a growl. It looked like someone had tried to cut his throat and Marvolo realized why Mr Potter always wore high-collared robes.

He frowned and decided to ask Mr Potter about it the next time they had a talk in private.

He followed the intriguing silvery lines all over the Seer's body, most of them on his arms and legs, horrified by the sheer number of scars the young man already had. He knew the Seer's skin scarred every time he sustained an injury, but there were _so_ _many!_

Then, the Goblins started the ritual and the Seer's body briefly disappeared behind the shine of the runes and stones. Marvolo listened to the chanting in Gobbledegook and observed how different runes glowed and shifted in complicated patterns together with different stones and gems.

The magical pressure in the chamber grew and then compressed, surging into the rune circle, the stones and gems within, connecting with the body lying in the middle and the magic within it.

Marvolo could practically feel how the body and the magic were examined and tested.

The magical pressure grew again as the Seer's magic surged and soared in response to the ritual and connected to the ritual's magic, floating into the runes and the stones.

The answering light from some gems and runes was blinding.

When the Seer was visible again, his whole body shone in a deep red colour, the glow wandering over his form like crimson flames. Several runes, stones and gems shone around him.

The chanting slowly faded and with it the light in the runes, stones and the Seer's body.

"That was most interesting." Ranglock's voice sounded excited.

"Did it work?" The quiet and hoarse voice of Mr Potter came from the circle. Ranglock nodded.

"Yes, it worked very well. You can leave the ritual circle and get dressed again, Mr Potter."

Marvolo saw Severus carefully step into the circle and help his ward onto his feet. They waited till Mr Potter was dressed again, clearly exhausted and tired.

The Goblins talked between themselves in Gobbledegook, and then Ranglock led them into a room not far down the corridor. Marvolo kept an eye on Mr Potter, who swayed on his feet and leaned heavily on his guardian.

The room was small, with a big fireplace and several armchairs arranged around a coffee table, a tea set placed on it. Once they were all seated, Ranglock unrolled a parchment, while they prepared themselves some tea and Mr Potter drank some potions Severus handed to him.

"As I said, the ritual worked very well. There was no discrepancy or problems with it being a goblin test for magic and you being a wizard."

Mr Potter accepted the cup of tea from Severus with shaking hands and took a sip with a small sigh. "And what does it say?" he enquired.

"You are definitely a wizard, Mr Potter, and a powerful one at that. The ritual located 99,8 percent of your magic in your blood and the rest in your core, anchoring it to your body."

The green-eyed youth cocked his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, Marvolo suppressed a chuckle at the picture the Seer made.

"Are these numbers important?"

The goblin nodded.

"Yes, they are. Goblins are entirely made of magic, so you could say 100 percent is distributed in the body. In Wizardkind, magic is normally located in the core and even if the Wizard or Witch is proficient in Blood Magic, which means the wielder spreads and concentrates his magic in his blood, they never can empty their core completely. Would they do this, their core would collapse, killing them or leaving them as Muggles."

"Not as Squibs?"

"No, Mr Potter. A Squib, regardless of his inability to perform any kind of magic, still has a core with a residue of magic in it. In your case, the core resembles the one from a typical Squib, but is functioning as an anchor for the rest of your magic to the body. Without this small amount of magic in your core, the magic in your blood would have broken completely free of your body with the first injury, killing you in the process. Your magic would still seek out time magic to gather visions but would not find the way back to a body."

Marvolo listened with fascination and a small amount of gratitude that he had had the foresight to negotiate a new agreement between goblins and Wizardkind when he took over as the Leader of magical Great Britain. Had he still held the goblins to the old deal, where they had been classified as not even intelligent beings and mere beasts, they never would speak so openly of their knowledge about magic, of that he was sure.

"The amount of magic which acts as an anchor can differ, or so our old chronicles about other wizards with certain magical varieties report. The high percent of magic in your blood tells us that you are highly sensitive to visions and that even a small scratch with only a drop of blood could trigger one."

At this statement, Mr Potter jerked upright in his armchair.

"You mean not every Blood Seer would see visions every fucking time he received a scratch and only one bloody drop of blood left his body?"

"Language," Severus scolded, but his ward chose to overhear the comment.

"Do you mean to say, Mr Potter, that you receive a vision every time?" Ranglock enquired.

"Yes," the Seer nodded. "Even if it is only one drop of blood, some magic still slips out. It may be only a vision of one or two seconds, but still, _every. fucking. time_." This time Severus only sighed at the crude language.

"We have no reports of Blood Seers _that_ sensitive, but I theorise that it may have something to do with your high level of magical power."

Here, Marvolo cut into the conversation for the first time. By the look he received from the goblin and the Seer, they had forgotten he was even there, which was inexcusable.

"High level of magical power?"

He received a razor-sharp smile from the manager of Gringotts.

"Oh yes. Mr Potter's power level is extraordinary. Or let me phrase it differently. If Mr Potter's magic would be located in his core instead of his blood and he could perform magic, he would be more powerful than Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald or even you, Lord Slytherin. Perhaps you should be relieved that Mr Potter was born a _sanguis vates_ or he would have taken the title of the most powerful wizard in Britain from you."

The statement left them speechless.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 12th of September 2018

Last edited: 11th of July 2019


	10. Temper

**Disclaimer:** Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter or anything in this universe, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. And I also do not own the idea of the Blood Seer, it belongs to Anne Bishop or the original HP fanfiction "Little Seer" by HuskyWalker which inspired this one.

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing and favouring.

I had something completely different planned for this chapter but as I started writing it, the scenario you have now demanded to be put in. I am so not sorry that it happened, as I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you have as much fun reading it.

The chapter title says it all.

As always it is not betaed, so all mistakes are my own.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Temper**

"Seriously?" Harry looked in shock at the goblin. He, more powerful then Lord Slytherin or Dumbledore? Certainly not. Not even in theory.

"Seriously." Ranglock nodded in confirmation, but Harry's mind still refused to proceed the fact.

How could he even be near the magical power Lord Slytherin had? Him?

Harry shortly glanced to Lord Slytherin and the look in those crimson eyes caught him off guard. He gulped and looked away, not sure how to decipher the expression.

So, if he had been born a normal wizard he could have defended himself against Dumbledore? His parents certainly would not have given him away, which would mean he would have grown up with the rebels, perhaps even believing them, fighting for them. He would have been a rebel.

If he really was as powerful as Ranglock suggested, it would have opened the door for a totally different kind of manipulation by Dumbledore.

Instead of being a tool, he would have been a weapon.

A weapon to be wielded against Lord Slytherin and his people. Against Severus… against Draco…

Suddenly he was glad to be born a Blood Seer.

* * *

Marvolo was not sure what he felt about Ranglock's statement. But when he locked over to the Seer and thought about all that unusual magical power in such a petite body and the character and mind behind it, a rush of possessiveness and craving spread through him.

It was a good thing that the Seer was already his.

And whatever he was thinking, Marvolo had no intention to let him go after the year. He normally got what he wanted, even when he was not entirely sure what exactly he wanted from the Seer.

He was sure some of his feelings showed in his expression, as he caught Mr Potter's eyes, the young man swiftly looked away.

Severus at his side had a small smug smile on his face. That expression was not hard to decipher.

Dear Merlin, how had he never realized that his friend and Lieutenant was a proud, protective father? Had he always been one or had he channelled Lucius lately?

He shifted his attention back to the manager of Gringotts.

"Thank you Ranglock. It is good to know that the test functions as well with wizards and witches as with goblins. I need three copies of the test results. One for the register in the Ministry, one for Severus and Mr Potter themselves and one for me. Please draft a first version for a contract how the testing in Gringotts shall be conducted and we will meet in the next days to talk about it and finalize it."

Ranglock nodded in confirmation.

"We also want to open a vault for Mr Potter, as he will receive a salary for his service as a Court Seer and Potions assistant to Severus, which will go directly into his vault."

"This will not be needed, as Mr Potter inherited the Potter vault."

Marvolo saw Mr Potter's head come up in surprise. "I did?"

"Yes, Mr Potter. As your father and mother left no will, everything goes to you as their only heir." Ranglock confirmed.

"We thought he was perhaps disinherited due to his lack of magic." Severus remarked.

The goblin looked thoughtful, wrote something on a small piece of parchment and vanished it with a flick of his long fingers. A few moments later, the door opened, and another goblin brought in several thick folders. Ranglock picked one up and shuffled through it.

"No, Mr Potter was never disinherited. He is entitled to everything from the Potter family. Sadly, there is nearly nothing left of the Potter fortune."

"What do you mean?" Severus sounded shocked. Marvolo could only mirror the feeling. The Potters were an old family, not as rich as the Malfoys, but Mr Potter's grandfather, Fleamont Potter had contributed greatly to the family wealth by inventing the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion.

"The late Mr and Mrs Potter visited Gringotts in the summer of 1984, cancelled the trust vault for Mr Potter here and emptied the Potter vault." Ranglock looked up from the parchment he was reading.

So, one year after he had conquered Hogwarts and with it the last stronghold of Dumbledore, taking over the whole British wizarding world, the Potters had managed to slip into Diagon Alley and Gringotts. He was sure they took also most of the heirlooms, sold them and used all the money funding Dumbledore's vigilant group.

And because they thought their son was a Squib and would live in the Muggle world, they thought he had no use for a trust vault.

"So, there is nothing left?" Severus enquired, while his ward was sitting at his side, stunned.

"There was nothing left when they emptied it, but the invention of Fleamont Potter still brings in money, so a few galleons are back in there. Do you want to visit the vault today?"

Marvolo shock his head. The magical strain on the Seer had been huge and even with the Pepper-up Potion Mr Potter certainly would be at the end of his energy shortly.

"No, we will come back later for this." He decided for them.

At this he got a slightly annoyed look from the Seer.

"Very well. Then I will draft a contract for the testing ritual and send a copy to you, Lord Slytherin, to look it over. We will also send a copy of the Potter vault accounts to Mr Potter and his guardian." The goblin placed three roles of parchment on the table between them. "Here are your copies of Mr Potter's test results. Gringotts and the goblin nation will watch with interest how you will proceed with the knowledge and the evidence that magic can take many forms."

Marvolo inclined his head at this, rose out of his armchair, signalling that they were finished and waited for Severus to help his ward stand up.

They travelled back to Hogwarts via the floo network, and Marvolo, who went first, watched with amusement how Mr Potter stumbled out of the fireplace in his office, and caught him before he could fall flat on his face.

"It seems we developed a habit here, Mr Potter." Marvolo chuckled and hold him upright.

The Seer only scowled and tried to stand on his own, but the exhaustion of the day was clearly written in his face.

The floo opened and Severus stepped through. He sighed when he saw his ward being hold upright by Marvolo.

"At one point we have to teach you how to travel by floo without stumbling every time."

Mr Potter mumbled something which was not understandable due to the huge yawn coming out of him.

Severus took his arm, nodded to Marvolo and led him out of the office.

"Up to bed with you".

The Seer's answer was not heard by Marvolo anymore, as the door closed behind them. He smiled a little to himself. What a fascinating day.

Then he sat at his desk and reached for parchment and quill. He had things to do.

* * *

Harry woke the next morning, feeling groggy and disorientated. He could not remember having a vision, why was he feeling like he had a major non-accidental one?

Then he bolted upright as the memories of the previous days rushed back. His mind tried to catch up with everything that had happened since the Yule ball, but he felt somehow lost. Everything had happened so fast, everything had changed drastically in such a short amount of time.

His mind was a mess and his emotions were a mess.

As his subconsciousness caught up with everything, a maelstrom of feelings made him dizzy. He looked down at his hands, clenched into fist on top of his covers. Everything was too much.

He did what he always did when he had a particularly disturbing, violent or abstract vision, he took a mental step back and compartmented the emotions and thoughts running havoc in him.

Once he successfully untangled them, he analysed where they were coming from.

There was joy and excitement. That was easy.

They had evidence that he was a wizard. **He** was a wizard!

Not official for now, the laws needed to be changed for it, but…

He was a **wizard** … he would be allowed to enrol into Hogwarts!

He could walk through Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade without been scorned upon, because of his grey robes, identifying him as a Squib. Nobody would stop him to ask if he had his guardian's permission to be there. He could now go everywhere he wanted.

He even was allowed to have his own vault now.

He could buy his own broom! Now that it was clear he was a wizard, he did not have to hide that brooms were functioning for him. He had only flown twice, to test Severus suspicion of his magic, and he had loved the feeling of lightness's and freedom.

He was free of the burden to hide parts of himself. He could be himself, bloody visions and everything included.

Harry felt the wonder, excitement and joy growing inside him.

…

Then there was fear, he could feel the all-consuming terror inside him. That was also easy.

With the law changing, and Lord Slytherin's wish to announce him openly as his Court Seer, a lot of people would be getting interested in him. No, not him, his ability, his magic.

Even with Lord Slytherin's protection, there were people in the world who were greedy, who would want to use his ability, buy it, coax him or force him.

And then there was still Dumbledore out there…

He had felt safe in his life at Hogwarts, and now so much was changing. And Lord Slytherin was the cause and he was so unapologetic about it, because he got what he wanted. Harry was frightened of it.

And if he was true to himself he was frightened of Lord Slytherin. Not of his magical and political power, not even of his infamous temper and taste for cruelty. It was the man itself.

The way Lord Slytherin demanded respect through his sheer presence and his whole demeanour screaming confidence, power and the ability to control everything and everyone around him…

It frightened Harry.

Lord Slytherin was so… intense.

He was scared, scared that he would be swept away and caught in the maelstrom that Lord Slytherin was.

And now he had willingly gone into a contract with exactly this man and had given him the power over him.

But fear, Harry was accustomed to, he was used to it. Had lived with it since he had his first vision. Fear he could overcome.

…

What he was not used to, was the fury. White-hot anger running through him. Where was it coming from? It made it hard to think.

Harry raised his occlumency shields higher. Then he looked at the rage from all angles, and suddenly he understood.

His life had spiralled out of his control since the Yule ball. He always had lived under the radar here.

The moment he had arrived at Hogwarts he had taken his life in his own hands, had only given away control where it was unavoidable.

And now the most powerful wizard of Great Britain knew what he was and had manipulated him into giving him control over him.

He was angry with himself for allowing it, not seeing the trap and the manipulation, but also because he felt a little relieved that now someone else beside Severus was there. He had sworn to himself never to allow someone to have that much power over him again, and now he had given it willingly.

Harry hated it, hated that Lord Slytherin had manipulated him in giving it over without taking time to think. Hated how smug the Lord was that he got what he wanted.

He had always known the man had some controlling issues. He was the leader of magical Great Britain after all. And Severus had grumbled more than once about him.

Harry knew he had control issues himself. How could he not? The control over his body and ability had been taken from him at a much to young age. The hate and the fear of not being in control only amplified his fury.

How could he have been so stupid? The anger was licking at his insides again.

And they had dragged some of his darkest secrets out if him. Had guilt manipulated him in telling them if his time with the rebels.

Lord Slytherin was so much more dangerous then Dumbledore.

Harry was angry with the Lord, the situation and himself. Angry how his life had completely changed again. Angry how terrified he still felt.

He carefully put the anger behind strong shields, breathing in and out. The fury diminished, leaving mostly frustration.

That was enough for now.

He was determined not to let it sully is excitement over all the new possibilities that he was a wizard now.

He got out of bed, washed up in the bathroom and started changing into simple everyday robes with comfortable black trousers, shirt and pullover underneath, still thinking about yesterday.

The blessing had been interesting and wonderful. But the morning talk with Lord Slytherin still made Harry scowl. And the man had even talked for him at the end in Gringotts, taking the decision if he wanted to see his family vault from him.

Yes, he had been beyond tired, but still… bloody controlling Dark Lord.

Annoyance flared up in Harry again. At himself, the situation and mostly at the Lord.

Then he groaned, he had an appointment with him today. Lord Slytherin would decide on Harry's wardrobe, another aspect he took control over, so surely of himself that he knew better.

Harry had no illusions, that the Lord would decide everything, and Harry had no say into the whole matter.

Arrogant, annoying and controlling bastard of a Dark Lord that he was.

He certainly liked to be acknowledged as a wizard, but having to deal with Lord Slytherin regularly? No, certainly not.

Struggling to get his emotions under control again left him drained.

His stomach growled, deciding he needed breakfast.

Sighing he went to the living room, finding his guardian with a cup of coffee in his armchair, already dressed, only his teaching robes were hanging over the back of the armchair. The sight of Severus made him feel better.

Severus who had come and gotten him out of the hellhole, who had given him a home and a family. Who understood his fears.

"No breakfast today?"

Severus looked up. "You are looking better. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, how did I get into bed?" Harry frowned, realizing that he did remember coming back to Hogwarts, but not how he found his way to their quarters and into bed.

"I carried you and tucked you in."

Horrified green eyes were met with a smirk. "Tell me you are kidding."

"No Harry, I am not kidding. You had two occurrences of a major magical depletion on one day. It was no wonder that you were completely out of it afterwards." Severus told him.

"So, err… breakfast?" Harry certainly did not want to think about being tucked in by his guardian with sixteen.

"From now on we will have the majority of our meals in the Great Hall." Severus drained his cup, set it aside and slipped his robes on.

"Lord Slytherin?" Harry asked while he followed Severus out of their quarters.

"Lord Slytherin." His guardian nodded.

Sighing Harry followed his guardian up the dungeons to the Great Hall.

As not many people stayed at Hogwarts after the blessings yesterday, the Great Hall was nearly empty. Lord Slytherin and a few other teachers were already sitting at the Head table and Harry saw Draco sitting among his Slytherins friend.

On one of the other tables he saw the two Indian girls sitting with a dark-skinned boy, an Irish boy and a girl with a lot of bushy brown hair. The girl saw him, and Severus enter the Hall and her gaze fixed on him with an intense expression. Harry looked at her in bewilderment and heard Severus chuckle at his side.

"That is Ms Granger, Gryffindor, insufferable know-it-all, overall bookworm and eager to show that coming from a Muggle background is no hindrance to be successful. I would not be surprised if she tries and ambush you to learn about your special branch of magic."

"Is she succeeding?" Harry shuddered, her gaze felt like he was an especially interesting puzzle only waiting to be solved.

"With what?"

"Showing that Muggle-borns are as good as Pure-bloods?"

"Oh yes, she is the best in her year, which will be your year, too. Or at least at the theoretical part, but she is mediocre in the practical part. She has better manners then even most purebloods, when she is willing to apply them, and a feeling for our magical history than some children coming from old families. She practically inhaled the etiquette, ritual and traditions class given by Narcissa in first year." Severus could not hide a sneer.

"You don't like her." It was not a question.

"No, she is a typical Gryffindor, even with all her knowledge and intelligence, she jumps into action without considerations and is worse than a Niffler who smelled gold when something catches her interest. She is too honest and believes too much in books and can't think beyond them."

"Ah, I see the problem. She has the intelligence, the perfectionism and tenacity you search in students, but she relies too heavily on the instructions and books and can't work with Potions intuitively. She can't adjust them. So, it is not that you don't like her, you are disappointed." Harry teased his guardian with a knowing smirk.

Severs scuffed. "As I don't have high expectations of the dunderheads, I am certainly not disappointed. And if you don't behave, I will tell Lord Slytherin, that your entire wardrobe is grey, black or white. I am sure he will not only demand robes for you in this case."

Harry was appalled. "You would not dare."

"I certainly would. And if you are quite finished to psycho-analyses me, Draco is trying to catch your attention." With this Severus headed to the Head table, while Harry made his way to the Slytherin table, taking the seat beside Draco, who had looked his way since they stepped into the Hall.

While they ate breakfast, Draco wanted to know everything about the testing ritual. Harry relied the ritual and the results to be as best as he remembered but left out the point about his magical power. He had to laughed at the other Slytherins, as they all tried to mask their eagerly curious looks.

Midway through the post arrived and Harry looked astonished at the headliner. Draco grinned at him.

"Looks like Lord Slytherin and father worked faster then anticipated." The blond opened the newspaper and Harry read along from the side.

 _The hidden wizards and witches!_

 _New Revelation were presented in a Wizengamot meeting yesterday evening by Minister Malfoy and Lord Slytherin, that Magic is by far more wonderous then we had assumed so far._ _Believed to be weak wizards / witches or even Squibs because of their insufficient magical core, highly specialized wizards and witches were hiding in our society for centuries now._

From there the article explained non-core magic, gave an example of someone who had a nearly non-existing core but all of his magic concentrated in other parts of his body (Harry was quite sure they talked of him) and another example of a weak wizard who could wield a wand and had been tested, where they found that most of his magic was concentrated in his vocal cords (apparently he was a very famous singer, Harry had never heard of him).

The option to be tested at Gringotts was explained and why the Ministry test could not detect this kind of magic. They talked about the new laws entering into force this morning giving these specialized wizards, as they proceed to call them, all the rights wizard and witches had and about the possibility to enrol at Hogwarts, where their classes would be fitted individually. If they needed a wand to utilize their magic, they were entitled to get one.

It was a good article, perhaps on some parts too excited, but the message came across and the non-core magic was well explained, Harry had to admit when he looked up from the newspaper.

All around him in the Great Hall whispers had broken out and Harry could feel a lot of eyes staring at him.

"Quiet an audacious article, don't you think so?" Draco folded the newspaper and placed it aside, where Parkinson snatched it.

Harry prepared himself another cup of tea. "But everything was explained in a way that everyone should understand. I am sure the evidence were the memories of me at the blessing and the results from the testing ritual at Gringotts. I am glad that my name was left out."

"I would love to know with what Lord Slytherin threatened the Chief editor of the Daily Prophet to not mention your name." Draco smirked and finished his plate.

"I do not want to know." Harry said deadpanned, he had seen enough visions of what Lord Slytherin could do, that he really did not want to know.

"You do not want to know what, Mr Potter?" A smooth voice called out behind him.

Harry jumped, turned around to glare at the red-eyed wizard, growling in irritation. "Could you please not do this?" He really did hate it when people sneaked upon him. The annoyance which had settled by now, flared up again.

He would not bow and cower and had no qualms in showing it, not even before the leader of wizarding Great Britain. He had something the Lord wanted and therefore some leverage. What could Lord Slytherin do? He knew Harry could endure pain and he had sworn to protect Harry, even against himself.

Harry narrowed his eyes, showing his irritation openly, but the only reaction he got was a raised eyebrow and an amused expression in the red eyes. Which annoyed him even more.

"Do what?" The innocent tone was not convincing.

"Sneak up on me, I could accidently cut myself, you know." Harry glared at the wizard before him, while he saw Draco and the other Slytherins sit there dumbfounded.

"And on what could you accidentally cut, here at the breakfast table?" Lord Slytherin enquired.

Harry still glared. "There is a knife beside my plate, which could fall down for example or I could grip it stronger then I wanted. The plates or cups could have a crack, or the table could have a splinter. I could even bite my tongue or cheek accidently."

"And does such accidents actually occurred?"

Harry nodded vehemently. "Every example did happen so far."

"Then I will refrain from, how did you phrase it?... sneak upon you. Now, let's talk about why I approached you. The tailor will arrive in an hour, please present yourself at this time in my office. We will have lunch there, as I assume it will take some while."

Harry narrowed his eyes again. "Why should it take some while? I only need a few robes for social functions and dress robes for balls and so on."

Lord Slytherin grinned at him and Harry felt something akin to dread settle in his stomach, he did not like that grin.

"Oh no, Mr Potter. I had one of the house-elf check on your wardrobe and found it severely lacking. You will get a completely new wardrobe, and in different colours then black, grey and white. We will also use the opportunity to order your school-robes. In one hour, be on time Mr Potter."

Then he turned around and left and Harry could only glare frustrated at his back, before he returned to the rest of his breakfast.

He came across the whole table staring at him.

"What?" He crossed his arms defensively.

His question broke the ban on the others and Parkinson and Zabini started grinning and Draco coughed.

"Err… we never saw someone… talk like that to our Lord or look at him like that or saw him grinning."

Harry cooked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Zabini started laughing outright. "You were bold and cheeky, and I think the last one who glared like this at Lord Slytherin was withering on the floor under a Cruciatus seconds later."

"And?" Harry asked in confusion.

"It is nice to see that our Lord is also human."

Not quite sure what they meant Harry went back to finish his breakfast. He was definitely not looking forward to the tailoring and spending time in the company of Lord Slytherin for a longer time. He was too scheming and demanding. And Harry was still annoyed with him.

"So, you, as you need dress robes, will attend the New Year's Ball?" Parkinson addressed him.

Harry nodded around the mouthful of mushrooms, gulped and answered. "Yes, as it seems I have to accompany Lord Slytherin to balls, gatherings and such in the function of being his Court Seer."

"You will accompany him? As his companion?" Greengrass looked at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, I think so. Why?" Harry frowned, he was certainly missing some background information.

"Lord Slytherin never attends a social function with a companion, neither male nor female." The blond girl elaborated.

"But I am only accompanying him in my function as a Court Seer."

"You could easily do it by attending by yourself. Even if he uses the Ball to announce you, to demand to be his companion sends signals."

"What signals? And to whom?" Harry sighed. That was again some old pure-blood stuff he would never get. He certainly could not do subtility.

"To the whole magical community and it means that he holds you in high regards and considers you more then a simple follower. Yes, you are in his servitude, but to present you at the New Year's ball while you are his companion, shows that he considers you of more equal standing." Greengrass explained.

"I am not sure what it means."

Draco smirked at him. "I am not sure Lord Slytherin knows exactly what it means."

Harry looked confused at his friend and caught sight of Parkinson frowning intensively at him.

"What?"

"Can you even dance?"

* * *

An hour later, on the way to the Lords office, Harry was still pondering about the conversation. The only explanation he had so far, was their contract was only for a year and the Lord wanted to show him that he was not a simple servant who he would order around. Harry had no illusions that Lord Slytherin would try and convince him to renew the contract between them after the year.

To show him that he was on nearly equal standing and allowing some leeway could be a way to win him over.

He was not entirely sure that it was not functioning. Even if he still was annoyed with the Lord.

Beside Severus and Draco, never had anyone treated him as someone worthwhile.

Reaching the office door, he took a deep breath and knocked. After getting permission to enter he opened the door and stepped inside.

Lord Slytherin was sitting at his desk, a stack of parchments in front of him.

"Ah, Mr Potter, perfectly on time. Please take a seat, the tailor will be with us in a few minutes." He gestured to a small assembly of armchairs beside the fireplace without even looking up.

Harry sat down, apprehensive of the whole situation, he was quite satisfied with his clothes. Why would he need new ones and more? Yes, one or two dress robes he understood, but a whole new wardrobe?

Then there was a knock on the door and with Lord Slytherin's permission a man stepped into the office and Harry had to remind him not to stare, unsuccessfully.

The tailor was tall, not as tall as Lord Slytherin, but at least a full head taller then Harry, and slender. His skin was honey-coloured, and he had fine boned hands with long fingers.

He wore very tight-fitting clothes. Black trousers set very low on his hips, a bright turquoise shirt, which looked like it was painted on, and a black vest with silvery embroidery, under a dark blue robe, open at the front.

Harry was not sure why the man even wore clothes, as every line of his body was easily visible. But what draw his gaze the most were his hair. It was unevenly cut. The left side reaching down to his chin, while the right side was nearly completely shaven, and the colours made Harry stare.

The left side were coloured in bright pink with the tips done in turquoise, while the shaven side was multi-coloured and looked like a rainbow. But every time Harry blinked the colours shifted, and the brightness and swirl of colours made his eye hurt if he looked too long.

He was certainly the strangest and flamboyant person Harry ever had seen, and he had to see Dumbledore's preferred colourful robes every day for five years.

He did not even register when Lord Slytherin greeted the man, but then amber-coloured eyes shifted to him and he desperately tried not to flinch when the tailor stalked towards him like he was prey.

"Mr Potter meet Xerxes Cavendish, my personal tailor."

Mr Cavendish bowed slightly before Harry, took his hand, grinned mischievously at him and kissed the back of it. "My pleasure." He drawled, and Harry felt a blush creeping up.

Out of the edge of his eyes he saw Lord Slytherin smirk behind the tailor.

Then he was pulled out if his armchair and Mr Cavendish moved around him, scrutinizing him.

"I really must say Lord Slytherin, you are right indeed, he certainly is a fine specimen. Such beauty should not be hidden under colourless rags. This will not be a difficult job, quite the contrary, with his colouring and this body he can wear everything. A full wardrobe?" Mr Cavendish turned to the Lord while Harry desperately tried to control his complexion.

Nobody had ever called him a beauty.

Lord Slytherin nodded. "Yes, a full wardrobe for every day use, student robes and several attires for different social and political gatherings, fitting for my Court Seer. He will mostly attend these with me. You know my wardrobe."

"What kind of gatherings?"

"Everything from tea parties to balls, from small meetings to the Wizengamot."

At this the tailor clapped delighted and swirled around to Harry. His eyes roaming up and down his body, then he flicked with his wand and the small suitcase he had placed near the door moved over to them, increased in size to a very large wardrobe and opened, revealing shelves of different kinds of fabrics in every colour.

"Do you have a favourite colour Mr Potter?" Mr Cavendish addressed Harry directly.

"Err…" He had never actually thought about it.

"He would look good in dark green and blue." Lord Slytherin's voice snapped Harry out of his confusion. Mr Cavendish nodded, while his eyes were still glued to Harry, or better Harry's body.

Harry tried not to nervously fidget under the stare.

"Dark purple would also go very well with his complexion. Then, Mr Potter –"

"Harry, please." Harry interrupted him, if he had to play dress-up doll for this man he wanted at least to be called by his name, he would feel more comfortable in an already uncomfortable situation.

Mr Cavendish looked shortly to Lord Slytherin, who nodded, and Harry hated that the man got to decide how the tailor was allowed to address him.

"Certainly, if you wish so, then I wish for you to call me Xerxes. As I was saying, Harry dear… let us begin." The smile from Xerxes was not reassuring at all.

Then Harry had to undress and stand on a small platform. He really had to congratulate Xerxes how he managed to not react to his scars. Xerxes carefully measured his whole body and trapped Harry in different fabrics, while humming and making small remarks.

"You are much too thin darling."

"No, no. Yellow is certainly not your colour."

"We have to show off those lovely hips and the luscious buttocks." Harry was certain he heard a laugh covered with a cough from Lord Slytherin at that and flushed deeply.

"Dark red should also highlight those pretty red lips, delicate cheekbones and those beautiful unique eyes." Xerxes did not even see the horrified look Harry was giving him. He was certain Lord Slytherin was trying not to laugh out loud at this, even if he could not see him in the moment, because Xerxes pushed a dark red robe over his head.

Was Xerxes blind? Nobody would call any part of him beautiful.

Merlin, he needed his eyesight corrected, he was small, scrawny, full of scars, hair like a bird's nest if he cut them too short and his eyes had once been described as creepy.

Harry frowned, perhaps Xerxes was really colour-blind or something similar, his choice of hair colour pointed in this direction at least.

What Xerxes definitely was, was being enthusiastic about his work and Harry found himself in the middle of whirlwind of fabrics of all kinds and colours in no time.

The whole event went as Harry had expected, Xerxes made suggestions and Lord Slytherin answered for Harry and decided everything. It was infuriating.

And the entire time Xerxes was constant rambling about his non-existing positive features, confirming Harry's presumption that the tailor was not only colour-blind but also utterly crazy. It was awkward, and he feared he would never lose the blush settling on his face.

The glance he managed to catch of Lord Slytherin, made it even worse. The Lord was sitting comfortable in an armchair, long legs gracefully folded, his eyes glued on him with an intense gleam.

He quickly looked away and decided to find the robe Xerxes had put on him very interesting.

It was in such a dark shade of green it nearly looked black, closed at the front and Xerxes was in the process of deciding what buttons would went well with it, and it had a low collar, a very low collar. Harry's hand automatically flew to his throat to cover the scar there.

"No."

It was the first word he voiced since one or two hours ago and Xerxes immediately looked confused at him.

"What no, Harry darling? I think this green looks wonderful on you."

"It's not the colour… but…. no low collars please." Harry licked his lips nervously. He had been standing nearly naked on this platform for a while, but somehow, he felt the scar on his neck was more visible when he was actual wearing something. He did not like it.

He saw Xerxes and Lord Slytherin exchange glances, then the fabrics hovering around him in the air stilled and floated down.

"I think we need a break." The tailor stepped away and left the office, while Lord Slytherin gestured Harry to take a seat.

Harry nervously pulled at the sleeves of the robe and stiffly took his seat. He knew what Lord Slytherin would ask.

"Mr Potter…"

"It's the scar, I don't want it to be seen." Harry interrupted, his hand uncomfortable tracing the scar. He felt the slight rift of the thin line under his fingers. Self-loath shortly flared up, but Harry repressed the feeling instantly.

Lord Slytherin regarded him with a glance Harry could not decipher.

"Why? You are a Blood Seer, your scars are a testimony of your abilities and you should not hide them or be ashamed of them."

Harry shrugged, unsure how to explain without telling too much.

"My other scars don't bother me so much, I mean… I don't like to show them, but that is mostly out of habit, but this one…"

"What is so different with this scar? How did you acquire it?" It did not sound like a question.

Harry looked away, struggling to suppress the memories. But the emotions from that day still surfaced. Self-loath, shame, hurt, hopelessness…

'I am not that person anymore.' He shortly squeezed his eyes shut.

"Mr Potter?" Lord Slytherin sounded impatient that Harry did not answer directly. "How did you get this particular scar?" He enquired.

Harry glanced at the red-eye man, and the irritation he saw there and the tone in which the Lord had asked – 'asked, Merlin's pants,' Harry growled inwardly, 'more demanded.' – ignited the feelings he had felt early this day again.

The fear and fury set the pit of his stomach in fire.

"I do not want to talk about it." Harry snapped heated and knew he had made a mistake when the crimson eyes narrowed dangerously, but he could care less in the moment.

"I want to remind you, that I am your Lord and will not be talked to in this tone. And you swore an oath – "

"Only to tell you when I have a vision and the details of it and to be your Court Seer! Yes, that gives you control over my life, **isn't that enough**?"Harry interrupted him resentful and with a touch of bitterness. "You don't need to know everything! My life and my memories are still mine! **You don't own me**!" He did not shout, but his voice had a hard edge.

"Mr Potter – "

If Harry had not felt so out of control of his own life since the Yule ball, perhaps the look in Lord Slytherin's eyes had him halter in his anger.

That Lord Slytherin demanded to know the memory linked to the scar, which was full of bitterness and self-loath, did not help at all.

He snarled at the Dark Lord. " **NO!** You don't need to know!"

He had been on the edge, but now Harry's temper took over. He was seething, furious and terrified…

" **I am. not. your. property**!" He spat out every word venomously. "I think we are finished here." He stood up, his magic boiling under his skin in answer to the rage he felt.

But the office door would not open when he turned the handle.

"I will not be spoken to by anyone in this manner." The hard voice behind him could have cut steel. "You swore an oath, without further stipulation to the service as a Court Seer. This basically makes you my property in the eyes of the Court Seer laws."

At these words, Harry turned around.

"I AM NOT A THING. YOU DON'T OWN ME! YOU OWN THE BLOOD SEER, NOT ME. THE BLOOD SEER IS ONLY A PART OF ME. YOU CAN CONTROL MY LIFE, PERHAPS EVEN MY MAGIC, BUT NEVER ME! MY MEMORIES, MY MIND AND MY FEELINGS ARE STILL MY OWN." Harry shouted, breathing loud and harshly, staring at the wizard in front of him, his worst fears in the forefront of his mind.

Lord Slytherin looked calm, calm like the sea before a storm, only his eyes burned. He rounded on Harry caging him against the wall.

"You are mine, make no mistake, Mr Potter. If I wanted I could hide you away in a tower and as your Lord I do not tolerate disrespect." His voice was cold.

Harry clenched his fist and stepped into the personal space of the Lord, glaring into his crimson eyes, not intimidated by the height difference and the magical power rolling from the wizard in waves now.

" **Then do it!** " He yelled, his rage turning the blood in his veins to fire and his fear the blood to ice.

"But do not blame anyone then yourself if the outcome is not what you expected." The snarl coming from his mouth sounded nearly inhuman.

"Yes, I swore an oath, a year of servitude, a year of visions, I swore it on my life and magic. Do you think even for a second, that if you force me that I would uphold it? Even if it cost me my life? Do you really think that with everything I went through, with everything I witnessed due to my visions I would be afraid of dying? Then you thought wrong. Do it and prove that you are not better then Dumbledore." Harry hissed venomously.

The Lord stood speechless before him, and if Harry had not been beyond the simple feeling of anger, the widening of his eyes would have looked comical.

"I am only bound to you for a year. I am not one of your blind followers, not one of the people who believe in you and your goals. I agreed to this oath for protection. I have something you want, and you have something I want. We have a business agreement. I am not willing to give you more. I love my life, but it is not worth living under the complete control of someone else. Never expect me to cower and bow before you. If you want my respect, then you have to earn it." Harry nearly whispered at the end, a deadly edge in his voice.

This brought the Lord out of his stupor and his eyes narrowed.

"You are a citizen of wizarding Great Britain and I am the Lord and leader of said wizarding Great Britain. I am your Lord, I am everyone's Lord." He practically hissed.

Harry laughed humourless. "You may be _the_ Lord and Leader of the magical community in the United Kingdom, but that does not make you **my** Lord. And even if you were, you would not be entitled to my inner thoughts and every memory. I am not your puppet!"

Lord Slytherin grabbed his arms furiously, and Harry winced as the fingers pressed painfully into his skin, but he did not broke eye contact and only stared at the man.

"I should kill you for your irreverence and insolence." They were practically nose to nose.

"Then do it. Finish what I never could." Harry wrenched his arms from the Lords grasp as the door opened and Xerxes stepped inside, haltering and looking from one to the other, going completely white as he saw the fury in both of their faces.

Harry walked to the door only stopping shortly when he was beside the tailor.

"You have my measurements, I think I am not needed here anymore, as I am not even deciding what will be purchased."

Without a second glance at the Lord Harry left the office, white-hot rage and ice-cold fear still licking at his inside.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 26th of September 2018


	11. Epiphany

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or anything from his universe, or the original work which inspired this.

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, reviewing and favouring. It's like getting chocolate or salted caramel ice-cream - I love salted caramel ice-cream.

I know this update took a while, but RL was demanding my whole attention and I could only write a little here and there, mostly in between breaks, in the train and mostly at night (my husband is not happy with me because of it XD).

This chapter is now beta'ed by the wonderful **GeMerope.**

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Epiphany**

Harry stomped through the hallways, hands clenched into fists, lips pulled back into a silent snarl. His magic still answered to his anger: boiling under his skin, making it itch, so alike to the signals for a major vision that Harry had to remind himself that a cut would not help with this kind of itch.

How dare the bastard presume he owned him!

He was a person! With his own mind and no one was privy to it!

Slytherin certainly lost the plot if he thought that Harry would simply bow and cower and say "Yes, my Lord," like a good subject or servant.

That'll be the bloody day!

His fist shook. He wanted to punch the tosser!

He really, really wanted to smash something, preferably the Lord's nose. Only once in his life had he punched a wall in fury, it had broken the skin on his knuckles and had thrown him into a vision. He'd gotten rid of that habit immediately.

He clenched his fist tighter to prevent himself from physically lashing out. His nails cut into his palms, nearly breaking skin and the sharp pain of it brought him back from the depths of his rage.

Glancing at his hands, Harry groaned. He had forgotten to put on his gloves again, after he removed them on Xerxes' request. Severus would be so disappointed with him, not only because he totally forgot his gloves, but also because he lost control of his temper.

His guardian had told him over and over again how important it was for him to keep his temperament in check. It had been months since Harry had lost it the last time.

But never like this. Never had his temper spiralled out of control to such an extent.

Oh Merlin…

He had screamed at the leader of wizarding Great Britain, at the man who had vowed to protect him.

Shame and guilt mixed with the anger in him.

Yes, he should not have yelled at the Lord. But he had been so _infuriating._

Still fuming, he reached the portrait door at their quarters and let himself in. He saw Severus sitting in the living room but went straight to his room without saying something or even glancing at the man. He needed a moment of solitude.

Needed to calm his emotions and his thoughts.

The volatile reaction of his magic under skin frightened him a little bit. His magic had always reacted to his emotions, but never to that extent. He knew from Severus that it was a common occurrence in normal wizards, but his magic existed for one reason only, to reach out through the veil and connect with the river of time.

Yes, he could manipulate the length of his visions by staying calm and enduring the pain, but never had his magic reacted to his emotions like it wanted to break out of him, like it wanted to _do_ something.

Pacing in his room did not help and he had nothing to throw beside his books, the small clock he owned and his nightlight, which he did not dare to. Falling face down onto his bed, he screamed into his pillow. Whoever had said that it would help to get frustration and anger out of the system was lying.

Harry did not feel one ounce better.

He felt so out of control… of his life, his body (which was always controlled by his ability) and in the moment of his emotions.

Rolling on his back, he brought the pillow up, hiding his face under it.

Why was he so out of control? It certainly was not the first time in his life someone was trying to decide everything for him.

What was so different with Lord Slytherin?

Was it because he decided even the small everyday stuff without asking? Was it because he had shown in small and big gestures that he did care for more than Harry's Blood Seer abilities? Was it because, despite the attempts to control and manipulate him, Harry had started to feel a tiny bit of respect and gratitude towards the Lord? Or was it because he had started to trust him?

Harry bolted upright in shock.

What?

The realization that he had started trusting the Lord hit him like a raging Hippogriff. It had taken him months to trust Severus. When had he started to give his trust so easily? Or was it only to the Lord?

Slytherin had manipulated him, made decisions for him and had managed to overturn Harry's life in a frighteningly short amount of time. But his manipulations had been obvious, like he wanted Harry to realize what he was doing. He had told him outright what he wanted. Lord Slytherin had been truthful with him as far as Harry could see. Demanding, arrogant and controlling, but truthful nonetheless.

He fell back onto his bed und pressed the pillow against his face, groaning. Yes, he definitely trusted him, to an extent. He was confused, different emotions swirling within him, making him dizzy. Not even his natural ability of Occlumency was helping, his shields insufficient in the moment.

"Harry?"

He moved the pillow and glanced at Severus, who was standing at his bedside, watching him with a concerned expression.

He sighed and moved a little to make space for Severus, who settled beside him on the bed.

"What happened? It is not even lunchtime, Lord Slytherin informed me that the appointment would take some time and you would be eating with him in his office."

Harry scowled when Severus mentioned the Lord. His guardian narrowed his eyes when he saw his reaction.

"Harry."

He sighed. Severus would not go away till he had been told what had occurred. He glanced shortly at the man and resolved himself for a scolding.

"I may or may not have yelled at him." Before his guardian could even react to that statement he went on. "I may or may not have compared him to Dumbledore." He cringed as he saw the dark look in the Potions Master's eyes. They both knew how the Lord would react to that.

"I may or may not have hinted that I do not respect him."

Severus stopped him with a gesture and took a deep breath. "I think it would be better if you start at the beginning."

And that Harry did, telling him what had happened from the moment he stepped into the office till he stormed out of it earlier. "And I don't understand. Ok, I understand why I am so angry, but it is not the first time I feel so out of control because of someone. And he is nothing compared to Dumbledore in that matter. I always had a good control over my emotions or I would be already dead or crazy. Why is Lord Slytherin bringing so much more out of me?"

Severus had listened silently, but now when Harry looked at him, hoping his guardian had an answer, he chuckled. _Chuckled!_ Harry was indignant.

"Don't look at me like that, Harry."

"But you laughed! What is there to laugh?" he demanded to know.

Severus sighed and smirked at him.

"Welcome to a rather small circle of privileged individuals. Every one of us who have the unfortunate fortune to interact with Marvolo on a more individual and personal level, were at the point you are now. We all wanted to scream, yell and, in most cases, maim him. Some of us did. Marvolo is a born leader, charismatic, brilliant, he easily can move the masses. He has a strong, unyielding character. Marvolo evokes strong emotions, that is the reason why so many people give him their loyalty and why Dumbledore seems to hate him so much."

Harry could only agree. Lord Slytherin certainly evoked strong emotions from every side of the spectrum.

"But Marvolo is a very private person and only a few selected ones are allowed to see the whole package. The ones he trusts enough not to take advantage of it, the ones who will not reject him, even if we don't like what he might say or do. The ones he takes objections and disputes from to think about. Would they come from anybody else he would reject them automatically and punish the one for even daring to speak to him. The ones he tries to convince to do something instead of manipulating or ordering them."

Severus' expression was - all Harry could think of as a definition was _soft._ And he realised that he had completely forgotten, that Lord Slytherin was not only his guardian's Lord, but also his friend. It was sometimes hard to link the Lord to Severus' friend.

"And we clash and that's horrifying to witness but also good. Because as brilliant as he is, he is not perfect. He makes mistakes and he allows us to point them out or prevent him from doing them. But he is very controlling, stubborn and dogmatic and that doesn't make it easier. So, we get furious because he drives us insane."

Harry remembered Severus storming into the living room a few months ago, muttering darkly under his breath and disappearing into his private potions lab for hours. Harry knew his guardian had gone to a meeting with the Lord that day.

"So, you… also screamed at him?" he asked, he never had heard Severus scream at someone, not really. Normally he went colder, his voice more like a precise knife than a sledgehammer.

Severus chuckled again and shook his head. "No, I did not exactly scream at him. Lucius also never screamed, he told me it was undignified for a Malfoy, but Lucius _scolds_ , a lot. I witnessed it once and I think for Marvolo it was worse than yelling, if his face and how his magic reacted is any indication, because it sounded like Lucius was scolding Draco. But Barty and Bella teamed up once and yelled at him together."

"The Headmaster?" Harry interrupted, astonished.

"Yes, but he was not Headmaster at the time. I think it was actually about him being pushed into the position."

"And you?" Now Harry was curious. Yes, Severus also had a temper and he could see them clash, but over what matter?

"On which occasion?" Severus asked with a smirk and Harry had to grin in answer.

"The worst one."

Severus face softened and leaned against the headboard. Harry rolled onto his side to better watch his guardian. "That was actually because of you."

"Me?!"

"Yes," Severus confirmed. "A few months after I brought you with me to be precise. You remember those months?"

Harry nodded, remembering his astonishment over not being dead, his fear that Dumbledore would find him, his fear that someone else would find out about his ability. The first month had been hard.

"I was actually thinking to resign as a Potions teacher and buy a house, somewhere quiet in the country side. I was thinking that Hogwarts was too much for you and I wanted to be able to focus solely on you, which was not possible as the Slytherin Head of House and as a teacher. I told Marvolo one evening and he was far from pleased. He had already made many adjustments to the job, everything so that I would take it. I can hire as many assistants as I need, every potion ingredient I can think of is available. Every potion discovery and patent is credited solely to my name as Potions Master. The previous Potions Professor all had to publish their research in the name of the Hogwarts institution."

Harry listened, fascinated. He had not known that the Lord had taken that much measures to ensure that Severus was at Hogwarts.

"My feelings for Hogwarts were always ambivalent, and I originally started teaching here to be close to Dumbledore, during my spying days. After Hogwarts was in our hands and we opened the school again, there had been nobody else who could have done the job, so I stayed, first only for a year. But I always wanted to be able to do my research and Marvolo knew it."

"What changed your mind? Why did you stay as a teacher when you don't even like teaching?"

"You are right, most of the time I despise teaching, or at least the younger years. But as I already told you once, I don't mind the older years, the ones who are really interested. And every few years I am finding someone who is really exceptional in the arts of potion making, who is a natural. The feeling to see these people grow and give them the opportunity to discover their skills makes teaching all the other dunderheads bearable."

"And you were angry with Lord Slytherin because he didn't want you to resign?"

Severus looked at him, smirking.

"Angry doesn't quite fit it. He _ordered_ me not to resign, actually. He wanted me to be here at Hogwarts. I don't know his reasons why he wants me to stay at Hogwarts, but I assume he was afraid to lose me, not only as a Professor, but also as a Lieutenant and friend, perhaps he thought I would completely disappear. Marvolo is very possessive and could never handle losing something or someone he regarded as his very well."

They were quiet for a few moments. Harry pondered over the fact that the Lord certainly was thinking of him now also as his.

"So, when I told him about the idea to resign, he made it very clear that I would not go anywhere without his permission, and, in the end, it was better this way. After I discovered your magical gift, no place beside Hogwarts would have been safe enough. Nevertheless, at that time I thought it would be better for you if we would leave. He told me outright that I had to stay, that you were not worth it to throw the life I had built here away, and I should simply give you up if it was too much for me. In his eyes you were just a worthless Squib. We hadn't tested you yet, but I could not feel any magic from you at that time, and you did not show any magical power, so we presumed you had no magic."

Harry gulped and was ironically hurt by the words, even if he had decided himself months later to officially go with the classification.

"I told him clearly what he could do with his 'order' and it went downhill from there. We did not scream but were very vicious with each other. I don't remember who threw the first curse… afterwards Persephone and Narcissa scolded us both while we were being patched up in the Hospital Wing. An entire wing of Hogwarts had been destroyed, the house-elves were bad-tempered for over a month towards us." Severus' amusement at the memory was visible.

"And…"

"How Marvolo and I resumed our relationship?"

Harry nodded.

"We did not talk to each other for a few days. In the end, Marvolo reluctantly admitted that he could have phrased his request better and I hinted that I would stay."

"Why did you decide to stay at Hogwarts?" Harry enquired, inwardly touched that his guardian had been that angry on his behalf.

"I couldn't get you to leave your rooms."

Harry had to laugh at that, the anger had left him during the conversation. With a glance at the small clock Harry had standing on one of the bookshelves, Severus stood up and walked to the door of Harry's room, clearly ending the conversation.

"It is lunchtime."

"I don't want to," Harry grumbled.

"Nevertheless, you will accompany me. Show Marvolo that your argument with him doesn't take over your whole life." Severus looked at him expectantly. "And Draco will be waiting."

Still grumbling, Harry stood up and followed Severus. Draco would be whining if he did not appear and if there was something Harry did not want to have to handle, even more than an angry Lord, was a whining Draco.

A shudder went through him at the thought.

* * *

Marvolo thanked Salazar that he had learned steel-hard control over his magic quite early in his life, or his office, Xerxes and a good part of Hogwarts would be destroyed by now. Smashed into little pieces by his magic fuelled by the fury rushing through him.

How _dare_ the boy defy him like this!

He was _Lord Slytherin_ , he demanded respect!

The boy owed him respect! It was only because of him, that the boy could live safely in Hogwarts and that he would be acknowledged as a wizard.

How dare he refuse him like this! The irreverence!

The scar was linked to his Seer abilities, Marvolo was entitled to know how he acquired it! He was the Blood Seer's _Lord_! Everything about him was in his right to know.

His magic soared around him, reacting to his fury, filling the office with oppressive power. It threatened to rush out of him in a maelstrom. Not even Dumbledore had ever brought him that close to the edge of losing control.

The pain from his fingernails cutting into his palms brought him back, he had not even realised he had clenched his hands into fists. He took deep breaths to calm himself. How could one young man rattle him that much? Was it due to his defiant attitude or his comparison with Dumbledore?

The thought to be compared to and placed on the same level as the old man fuelled the anger in him again.

The presumption! The disrespect!

The sheer nerve of the boy to deny him the respect he was entitled to!

 _Respect has to be earned_ , a small voice in his head whispered, a voice which sounded like the boy. Marvolo snarled and struggled again with his fury-ignited magic.

The Seer certainly knew how to defy him and rile him up. A flash of angry defiant emerald eyes cut through his anger, lifting the red haze.

A small grin stole itself on his lips as he thought how the little imp had stood up against him like only the few who were close to him and trusted dared to, Severus and Lucius among them. Marvolo realised that he liked how the young man braved him, not one sign showing that he had been intimidated by him, not one sign of fear.

The only ones who had ever yelled at him had been Barty and Bella, and both were magically powerful, from his inner circle and slightly crazy. And still they only had dared to do it together.

Marvolo was used to awe, worship, hate, fear and the more level-headed objections from Severus and Lucius, not to such a spitfire and defiance, especially from someone that young, someone who was practically helpless against his magic.

And how magnificent he had looked, his eyes burning and nearly spitting green fire, his lips pulled back to show gleaming white teeth in a snarl. He had been radiant.

Marvolo was not stupid and he was very observant, that included of himself. So, the realisation about what exactly he wanted from the Seer, what had grown in his subconscious over the last days, was no real surprise to him.

He certainly had felt sexual attraction to other people, and he had had his fair share of bedpartners over the years, but that had been solely based on their outward appearance and merely for sexual release.

But Mr Potter intrigued him beyond this. Oh, he certainly was attractive, but Marvolo appreciated far more his fiery spirit, his backbone, his independent nature and his resilience. The Seer had surprised him nearly every time they had interacted and Marvolo was curious what else was hiding behind the young face.

Based on what he had learned about his education and what Severus had told, Mr Potter was also intelligent and persistent, as so far everything was self-taught or with some help of his guardian.

What a fascinating specimen the Seer was.

He certainly was not in love with Mr Potter, but fascination… relationships started with less.

There was nothing of his earlier fury left, replaced by desire and arousal. His magic heated the air around him in a different kind of way now.

Marvolo smirked, he had two days till the Ball, two days to plan how he wanted to start the wooing of Harry Potter. He knew he could not rush this. The young man was certainly more mature then other boys his age, but in other parts he was still innocent. He was hoping for a long and entertaining chase.

Oh, it would be so much fun.

He knew that the Seer was more than angry with him at the moment, and he was prepared to do some grovelling, at least in private. Perhaps even let him scream at him again. He wanted to see the fire in those green eyes again.

Arousal spiked once more as he thought about the possible ways to make the Seer scream and an image of those green eyes bright with pleasure popped up in his mind. Closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing, he shoved his desire behind the strongest Occlumency shields he could raise, his bodily reaction would only be a distraction for now.

With what he knew of the Seer's live so far, he had to step carefully and convince Mr Potter of his sincerity. The young man should not think that it was just another attempt to control him in a different way.

He wanted the chase, he wanted the willing submission of the Seer. He wanted the Seer in every possible way. He would be his!

However long it would take to convince the young man.

Marvolo smiled again, oh the fun.

His magic settled inside of him, no longer volatile.

Somehow, he had the feeling that he had been standing in the middle of his office for hours, but only a few minutes had gone by. Xerxes was still standing in the open doorway looking unsure.

He smiled and gestured at him to step inside. Xerxes was not magically powerful and would not have any chance to protect himself against the angry, volatile magic Marvolo had emitted. Therefore, his hesitancy was understandable.

"You can come inside Xerxes." Marvolo made his way to the tea table and prepared himself a cup after settling into an armchair. He did not smile at Xerxes again to reassure him, that would have been too much out of character for him, but he pulled his magic deeper inside of him, showing the tailor that he was completely in control again.

Tentatively, the man stepped inside and closed the door behind him. When the tailor sat down and prepared himself a cup of tea, Marvolo went back to business.

"So, make only half of the dress robes with low collars. His everyday robes with high collars, as well as his student robes. I want you to include some turtlenecks and shirts with high collars."

Xerxes nodded, taking a sip of his tea, relaxing now that they were back on familiar ground. "Which robes do you want to have ready for the New Year's ball, for you and Mr Potter?"

Marvolo contemplated over the matter shortly. "I will be wearing the black dress robes with the dark green lining and the silvery embroideries at the rims. Dark green ribbons to keep the sleeves firmly around my arms, you know I don't like those wide sleeves."

Xerxes noted everything down.

"For Mr Potter I want complementary robes, dark green with black linings and rims, thin and fine silvery embroideries overall. Make the sleeves as wide as you want. Include thin black silk gloves, impenetrable and skin-tight. And a high collar."

The tailor looked up, raising both eyebrows in surprise. Marvolo smirked at him, knowing exactly what message he would send with those robes.

"If you think it is not too much, black silk ribbons criss-crossing at the small of the back to adjust the waist accentuation." Xerxes suggested, while drawing a rough sketch of the robes.

Marvolo nodded his approval. Xerxes adjusted the drawing.

"Good luck, my Lord."

Marvolo laughed at the small suggestive grin the tailor sent him.

* * *

Throughout lunch, Harry avoided to look at the Head table, but he practically felt the gaze from those crimson eyes on the back of his head. It distracted him the whole time and he only managed to listen to the conversation around him with half an ear.

If they could not resolve the tension, how would the Ball go? Harry sighed, imagining a strenuously stiff and polite evening with a passive-aggressive Lord. But perhaps he did not want to have him there any longer? Perhaps he did not need to attend. He knew it was only wishful thinking.

Someone jabbed him in the side to gather his attention. He looked up from the last bite of his treacle tart. Everyone was looking at him. "What?"

"Potter, do you know how rude it is not to listen when someone is talking to you?" Parkinson chided.

Harry made a dismissive gesture. "So, what? Nobody keeps me around because I am polite."

Draco across from him snickered. "We were talking about the arrangement for this afternoon. As I recall, you are free?" The blond glanced at him expectantly.

Harry frowned, yes, he was free, he had planned to use the time to brew. He needed a relaxing activity. But the way Draco was asking was suspicious and the carefully blank faces of the others made him even more wary.

"Theoretically…"

"Wonderful." Parkinson clapped her hands. "Then after lunch we will all go together to the Slytherin common room."

"For what?" Harry focused his attention at the girl, from the edge of his vision he saw Draco shaking his head at her, but Parkinson only grinned, wide and a little scary.

"Your dance lessons of course. You said you never danced and as the companion of our Lord you will have to dance at the Ball. You don't want to embarrass him and yourself, do you?"

It was asked in a way that Harry knew the correct answer would be _no_.

Embarrassing the Lord was not something he had thought up till now, but with the still present frustration over the whole debacle in the morning, Harry was not completely adverse against the idea. Something must have shown on his face because Draco suddenly looked alarmed.

"Harry…"

The black-haired Seer only grinned at his friend and picked up his teacup for a sip.

"Harry!" Draco sounded more than alarmed now and Harry chuckled, his finger circling the edge of the teacup. A short sharp pain made him drop it.

"Oh, bugger…"

"Harry?" His friend sounded confused and Harry lifted his gaze from his right index finger to meet the gaze from concerned grey eyes. He sighed and showed Draco the small cut and the few drops of blood already gathering outside of the wound. Draco's eyes went huge and Harry could see the panic settle into them, he was sure his friend remembered the last and so far only time he had witnessed a vision. The blessing did not count.

"Harry, what should I do? What can I do?" Draco's voice trembled slightly.

Harry heard a sharp intake of breath from someone at his side, but he focused on Draco, keeping the now spreading pain at bay. His magic followed the few drops of blood, starting to gather around him.

"Draco, be so kind and move beside me so that I can lean against you, I really don't like to fall on the ground and the stone floor is really cold."

The blond climbed immediately over the table, while Parkinson moved to make space for him.

Harry leaned against his friend, sweat already forming on his forehead.

"Should someone inform our Lord?" Someone asked, but the tongues of fire that burned under his skin distracted Harry from the speaker. His whole being focused on not succumbing to the all-consuming pain spreading through his whole body. He tried to answer, he certainly did not want to have Lord Slytherin here.

"No… Severus… get Severus." His voice trembled as the pain intensified. His skin was burning, his blood was boiling, and his bones felt like they were shattering. The magical pressure grew around him, the air was already charged with power.

Hasty steps moved away from the table.

Someone moved his body, so that he was sitting sideways, his back to someone's chest, arms around him, holding him securely. Warm brown eyes caught his pain-glazed gaze, giving him something to fixate on.

"We've got you Harry." A comforting voice in his ear.

The magical pressure around him skyrocket and reached beyond them. Harry felt his magic connect with the river of time, the moment his eyes rolled back into his head.

 _Laughter filled his ears and he found himself in a huge comfortable dungeon room, filled with dark green settees and armchairs. Music was playing… before him_ , _Zabini was swirling Davis around… Greengrass was watching, an amused smile on her face… Parkinson was nearly falling out of an armchair because of laughter… Harry turned around only to be confronted with the picture of himself led around the room by Draco in a slow waltz…_

 _fog dissolved into a huge black dog barking at him…_

 _Lord Slytherin cladded in dark robes was dancing with him on a dancefloor, smirking…_

 _Dumbledore talking with a strange woman with large eyes behind thick glasses…_

 _Himself speaking with a snake in strange hisses…_

 _A rabid wolf, howling and growling…_

 _A rat…_

The ceiling of the Great Hall came into focus, someone was still holding him against a warm chest. Blinking Harry tried to make sense of the lingering images of the visions, but his mind still felt fuzzy and his body felt heavy from the exhaustion. Struggling to focus, he realised that someone was saying his name.

"Harry… Harry, are you here again?"

He moved his head and the concerned face of his guardian came into view. Severus let out a relieved sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it now or after your nap?"

Harry would have glared at his guardian if he had the energy for it. "No nap, not a child."

Someone beside them chuckled and the smooth amused voice cut through the last dizziness left from the vision in Harry's mind. He sighed and glanced at the Lord standing beside the table. The figure of Lord Slytherin brought out the images of the vision and a whole lot of conflicted emotions, but no real anger. Harry was too tired to feel angry.

As it had been a small cut and only a few drops of blood, it also had been a short and vague vision, but one part had been clear.

"You will have your dancing lesson, Parkinson." Harry searched for the girl in the small gathering of people around him. The brown-eyed girl looked a little pale but when she saw him looking at her, a grin appeared on her face.

"Naturally."

He practically could feel the tension leave the people around him. Severus caught his attention again. "What happened Harry?"

"I think my cup had a crack or something, and I cut my right index finger on it." He sighed, he knew what it meant. He was in for a big scolding because he had not mentioned to Severus that he had forgotten to wear his gloves.

"Your gloves?" Ah, perhaps he should try out divination without cutting himself open.

"Forgot to put them on again after the tailoring." He glanced behind him. "You can let go, Draco. I am fine." Hesitantly, the arms holding him moved away. Harry yawned and reached for his cup of tea on the table. Theoretically it should still be hot, the vision had only been a handful of minutes long.

Before he could pick up his cup, a hand settled on his arm to stop him, while several other hands crabbed for the cup. He blinked and looked confused around him.

"What…?"

Severus examined the cup and banished it with a flick of his wand. "I will order the house-elves to be extra careful with the tableware from now on. They are already checking the ones we use in our quarters regularly, but I forgot to tell them that we are eating now sometimes in the Great Hall," he said to someone behind Harry.

"And I am certain that the ones eating and interacting with him will be extra careful from now on. That was an avoidable accident." The smooth voice of Lord Slytherin came from somewhere over Harry and he realised that the hand holding his arm belonged to the man.

His arms were manoeuvred till the Lord could examine his right index finger. Seemingly satisfied that it really left only a small scar, the man lowered his arm but did not let go. Severus handed him a fresh cup of tea mixed with a Pepper-Up Potion and gestured him to drink it.

He sighed, trepidation growing. Would now everyone watch him like a hawk? But he drank the tea nonetheless, the potion mixed in the tea helping a little with his exhaustion.

"I thought you wanted me to have visions." He avoided looking at the red-eyed man, but it was clear whom he addressed.

"Not in this manner. These visions are painful and exhausting for you and therefore accidental ones should be avoided and prevented when possible. It is clear that even such a short one is draining on you."

Harry was sure he had imagined the concern in the voice but when he glanced at the Lord, the emotions in those red eyes made his exhausted brain dizzy. He cleared his throat.

"Yeah, well… you can't prevent them all."

"But we will try." The conviction in the statement made Harry smile slightly.

"Did you see something interesting?" The quiet voice full of awe belonged to the bushy haired witch standing among the group of people around them. What had been her name?... ah Granger. Apparently, his episode had caught the attention of everyone present in the hall.

"Not directly." His eyes flicked to the Lord still standing beside him, he did not want to admit that he would have a dancing lesson for the Ball while the man was present. Or that he had seen them dancing together.

"Mostly just glimpses… a huge black dog, Dumbledore talking with a woman." He frowned and recalled the images, they were getting clearer now that he was not completely drained anymore. "Dumbledore was definitely younger, so it was from the past. The woman reminded me of an insect. Her eyes looked huge behind her glasses." He did not entirely miss the glances Severus and Lord Slytherin exchanged, but decided to ask later.

"There was a rabid wolf, and a rat… oh and I was hissing at a snake."

The hand still holding his arm jerked and Harry looked surprised at Lord Slytherin. "What?"

"You _hissed_ at the snake?" The man enquired with an intense expression.

"Err… yes. Why?" Harry was utterly bewildered by the Lord's reaction.

"Harry, do you know what a Parselmouth is?"

"Sure, someone who can speak with snakes in their language. Why?"

"I am a Parselmouth and as far as I know I am the only one in Britain. Did you ever speak with a snake?" The red eyes bored into his own.

"Err… not that I know. I often handle snakes, to harvest their venom and so on, for potions."

"Did you understand what they were saying, when they hissed I mean?"

Harry shook his head in negation and bewilderment. How could he be a Parselmouth?

"A peculiar detail of the vision. Perhaps you merely hissed at the snake, it does not mean that you actually spoke with them." The Lord contemplated.

Harry shrugged. "They often make no sense at first. But when the things are actually happening, the things which were confusing make a lot of sense." He shrugged again, knowing he sounded vague at best.

"And how often do your visions come true?" The Lord enquired.

"As long as I don't prevent them or do something to change the direction of a specific path, each and every one of them." He yawned again and felt his body trembling, the last bit of energy the Pepper-Up had supplied leaving him. He hated the aftereffects of a vision. They weren't as bad as the pain before one, but definitely annoying. The pain was no problem, but the exhaustion… he could really do without it.

"Harry, you will go and have a nap, at least for an hour or two. I will send Draco to wake you up later for whatever he and his friends had planned to do in the afternoon. You know better than me that you need at least a short nap after a vision. A full night of sleep would be better, but as it was a small one, I only insist on a nap now and an early bedtime in the evening."

Severus looked sternly at him, took hold of his other arm and together with Lord Slytherin helped him to stand up. Harry sighed. There was no arguing with his guardian and he was right, unfortunately. But he hated how it sounded like he was a small child and that in front of so many people.

He let himself be led out of the Hall without further protest. A nap really sounded heavenly.

* * *

He was woken later by a full cohort of Slytherins invading his bedroom. Before he even could register what was happening, someone jumped on his bed, knocking the breath out of him.

"Wakey wakey!"

"Pansy, darling, let him live," Harry heard Draco drawl and blinked confused into the barely lit room.

Pansy Parkinson was sitting on top of him, grinning, her eyes sparkling in a way that Harry considered his chances of hiding under the blankets. They were zero.

"Merlin, Potter, did someone steal your stuff?" A bewildered-looking Zabini was standing in the middle of the room, glancing around him.

Harry sighed and sat up slowly. Clearly, he would not be allowed to stay in bed. "Err… no."

"But… the room contains nothing!" The dark-skinned boy sounded indignant.

"And?" Now it was Harry who was confused. He looked around, there were his books and the clock on the shelves, some clothes were lying on a chair and his nightlight was on the bedside table. Everything was how it should be.

"What do you mean with nothing? Everything is here."

Draco was the only one who was not staring at him now. He was already used to Harry's room.

"But… where are your things?" Parkinson was sitting in the middle of his bed, the same look of bewilderment and confusion in her face like Zabini had. And Harry remembered that these students were all coming from rather wealthy families, most of them Purebloods.

He had only once visited Draco and had been completely overwhelmed with the blond's room - or more accurate – rooms. For these kids his possessions looked meagre.

"That's all I have." It came out harsher then he had meant it.

Several pair of eyes went wide in horror. Harry crossed his arms and stared at the invaders defiantly.

"What? I had nothing when Severus found me, and I was never comfortable with a lot of stuff. If you have not much, you will not miss much when it is taken away."

His statement was answered with silence. Draco cleared his throat.

"We are not here to talk about Harry's strange ideology but to get him for the dance lessons. I am fairly sure it will be more than enough work to teach him not to stumble over his own legs." The blond grinned at him as Harry tried to decide if he should be offended by the statement or thankful that his friend dissolved the strange atmosphere in the room.

Draco herded the others out of his room and Harry put on some fresh robes, his usual grey with a high collar and long sleeves. Opening his drawer, he grabbed a pair of gloves - Severus would kill him if he forgot them again - and went into the living room, where the others were waiting for him.

"How come Severus let you in?" Harry asked as he followed them out of their quarters to the Slytherin common room.

Parkinson laughed. "Theoretically, he only let Draco in."

"And Draco let you in?" Harry looked at his friend. "Are you insane? Wait till Severus knows about it, you will be scrubbing cauldrons till you are thirty."

"Not if nobody tells him," Draco smirked.

"It's Severus! He will know! He knows everything."

Draco shrugged and pointed at the others. "They were not taking no for an answer." Harry sighed and looked at the mischievously grinning Zabini and the gleeful Parkinson.

"You are crazy."

"Only the best are. Now let's dance." Parkinson opened the door to the common room. Harry stepped inside, a looming feeling of doom settling into his stomach.

* * *

Two hours of dance lessons later, Harry was sure of one thing. He could not dance! His feet were completely incapable of moving in the right steps during the right time. That Parkinson was hitting him over the head every time he looked down was not helping.

"Pansy, stop! It is not functioning." Draco was standing at the side-line while Zabini was swirling Davis gracefully to the music. Greengrass and Davis had waited for them in the common room, preparing the wireless and moving furniture to make space for a dance floor.

"Merlin Harry, you are hopeless."

Harry glared at his friend defiantly. "What does it matter? I am only there to be announced as a Court Seer. If the Lord wants to dance, he can ask someone else." Draco's head snapped to him, grey eyes wide.

"Of course, how could I forget."

"What?" Harry exchanged a bewildered look with Parkinson.

"You are there with our Lord, as his companion. Merlin, we are stupid!" The blond looked at Parkinson and grinned.

"We tried to teach him the wrong steps."

" _Of course_!" Parkinson also started to grin, Harry took a step back, away from the two lunatics.

"Draco, get your arse over here."

Draco moved towards Harry, took his hands and moved them to the right position.

"You do not need to lead. Our Lord will lead, you only need to follow. Much easier to teach in such a short time. And as I recall from the balls I attended so far, Lord Slytherin is a marvellous dancer. Now, follow my lead." And Draco began moving him, without Harry even realising how.

They moved to the music around the room and Harry remembered the vision with a sigh. He really had hoped to prevent this. From the edge of his vision, he saw Parkinson laughing so hard she nearly fell out of the armchair. Greengrass, who had watched Zabini and Davis, stepped up to them and took Davis' position.

Draco swirled him around with an amused grin on his face.

"You see, Scarhead, even you can dance. You only need a good lead. We will be ready for the Ball in no time, perhaps we can even teach you the more complicated and faster dances. With your petite figure, the female part is actually perfect for you," Draco smirked at him, his friend definitely had fun. Harry did not raise to the bait, which left the blond pouting a little, before he winked mischievously and lifted him from the ground.

Harry sighed again but did not prevent Draco from swirling him around again, moving into faster steps, dipping and lifting him. An uncomfortable feeling settled into Harry with the thought that he would do this with Lord Slytherin. Yes, the Lord had held him after a vision, had seen him naked already, but somehow Harry was sure that dancing with him would feel much more intimate. And Harry was not sure what he should think of it.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 26th of October 2018

Last edited: 20th of August 2019


	12. Preparations and familiars

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or anything from his universe, or the original work which inspired this.

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, favouring and reviewing. You all deserve hugs and salted-caramel ice-cream.

I only wanted to say that I am still working on all my stories, but November was emotionally a really bad month, because of the unexpected death of a young family member two years ago and that also influenced Christmas time. But finally, I managed to finish this chapter. Theoretically I planned to have the ball in this one, but somehow the story and the characters did whatever they wanted. Two characters were particularly insistent to appear in this one.

This chapter is now beta'ed by the wonderful and brilliant **GeMerope** , many many thanks and hugs to her!

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Preparations and familiars**

Marvolo was sitting in his office, a pile of parchment in front him, trying to work through the last Wizengamot legislation of the year. He hated the paperwork, one of the reasons he put Lucius in the seat of Minister, which came with even more paperwork than being Chief Warlock.

He sighed, pulling the next parchment in front of him, a seemingly innocent law proposal from Lord Odgen. As he read through it, he frowned. It was obvious that whoever had written it had the hidden agenda to diminish werewolf rights. What fool had written that? Did they think he would not realise it? And who could be stupid enough to go against his explicit agenda?

The reestablishment of creatures into the wizarding society had been one of the first things he had done after taking control. Werewolves, vampires, hags and a lot of other creatures had been a valuable fighting force when he took over magical Britain. They had been loyal as long as he kept his side of their bargain.

Remembering how vicious some of the creatures had been, he could not prevent a small smirk. Some of them had made his Death Eaters look tame.

They had earned the same rights as wizards and witches. Yes, some aspects of them needed to be controlled, which is why they had the registration office, centres for specific species and the forest he personally had warded for the werewolves where they could transform on the full moon without endangering anybody else.

Disgusted, he made a note to reject the law proposal and made a mental note to find out who was behind it. Certainly not the elderly Lord Odgen, the man was either absent from the meetings most of the time or drunk. How he wished he simply could disband the Wizengamot. Yes, they were the legislative and judicial authority, but he overruled them whenever he saw fit. Theoretically, they were not needed.

But even a Dark Lord needed his supporters and as more than half of the Wizengamot came from old pure-blood families, they really did not want to give away their power - or more the appearance of power - And even if they would, it would mean he had to do all the work ruling a nation like magical Great Britain on his own, with all the paperwork attached to it.

He shuddered. No, it was definitely better to give his supporters enough power to appease them, distribute the work and ruling power to his loyal and trusted followers, and stand behind them all, pulling the strings. The only position of power he definitely did not want to give away to someone else was Chief Warlock, which meant he had to handle the much-despised paperwork.

When his office door opened, he was unsure if he should be angered that someone had the nerve to disturb him or inwardly thankful for the distraction.

Bartemius Crouch Jr, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, strolled in and took a casual seat in front of his desk. Seeing the way the man practically curled up in the chair, he settled for being annoyed at the intrusion.

"Barty, what are you doing here?" Marvolo asked tartly.

"Hiding, my Lord."

Marvolo lifted one eyebrow at this answer.

"Bella is driving me insane," the man elaborated.

"Bella is driving everyone insane. What does it have to do with you disturbing me?" He rested his chin on top of his linked fingers.

"You are the only one she respects, your office is a sanctuary, my Lord." Barty grinned at him and Marvolo sighed. Why were most of his inner circle totally unsocial, slightly insane and/or had a flair for dramatics?

"If my office is a sanctuary and you are disturbing it, does that mean you don't respect me, Barty?"

The young Headmaster stopped grinning at the dangerously cold tone and sat upright. "Not at all, my Lord. You hold my deepest respect. But you made me the Headmaster of Hogwarts and therefore it is my right to step into every room in this castle I wish to." There was the grin again.

"I should crucio you." Not that it would help.

Barty inclined his head. "You could and perhaps should do it, my Lord. But at the moment, I would rather take hours of the Cruciatus curse from you, than one more minute in the company of Bellatrix Lestrange."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Marvolo leaned back in his chair, he felt a headache coming up. "What is the matter with her?" The ' _this time'_ was heard by both.

"She is exuberantly excited. Practically bouncing, like a child on too much sugar, a homicida,l maniacal child," came the short - unhelpful - answer.

"Barty…" Marvolo nearly growled.

"She looks forward to tomorrow while complaining that she is not allowed to meet her new nephew already."

Marvolo blinked in confusion. "Her nephew?"

"Yes, your little Seer, my Lord."

He could not stifle the smug smile at hearing Barty calling Mr Potter his.

Barty went on. „Some Great-great-aunt of her or so married into the Potter family and because he is the Godson of Sirius Black, she considers him her nephew. She wanted to meet him for days now, but Severus is shielding him and since she broke down the doors of the Great Hall yesterday in her attempt to ambush the boy at breakfast, I forbade her to step into it again for the immediate future."

Marvolo suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Yes, that sounded like Bella. "The boy is living at Hogwarts for five years now, she could have met him years ago."

Barty nodded and shrugged. "But nobody really knew he existed. Yes, I was aware that Severus had taken in a ward who lived with him in the dungeons and he registered him as his assistant one or two years ago, but I never really saw the boy. I didn't even know his name or did not care to remember, I am not sure. He was nothing more than a useless Squib. Why should we have taken interest?"

Yes, why indeed. Not for the last time Marvolo, cursed their oversight. How many specialized wizards they had already overlooked? "So now that you heard what he really is, you suddenly take interest?"

"But of course! To think that such a unique gift still existed! Magic really is wonderous!" Barty's face lit up in excitement. And there he was again, the young man who was ever in awe with magic, who had loved to learn and who had been nearly crushed under the expectations of his own father. The genius, who loved nothing more than to discover and learn about new – or old and forgotten – magic.

The young wizard who had followed Marvolo like a puppy after he had recruited him. Whom he had taken in, after his father had tried to keep him at home under the Imperius curse. Whom he had taught everything, and who had flourished under him till he was one of his best fighters. Whom he had encouraged to find his true calling and had bullied into taking the Headmaster's post after learning that he loved teaching but was even better in encouraging other people to teach. Who loved Hogwarts perhaps even more than Marvolo himself.

Lucius and Severus may be his most trusted – dare he say friends? But Barty was somehow his protégé, the one beside Bella whom he had moulded the most.

Inwardly smirking he thought back to the day he had appointed Barty as Headmaster. Or better said, the day Barty had appointed himself as Headmaster. The young man, the youngest of Hogwarts' Headmasters so far, had heard that Marvolo was thinking to either take the position himself or appoint Severus, and had stormed into his office, Bella in tow, vehemently protesting. Barty knew how much he hated paperwork and Bella, beautiful crazy Bella had agreed, arguing that 'her Lord should not be held down by something so mundane as paperwork and dealing with everyday problems of a school and the prats within'.

When he had dared to mention Severus, both had started yelling at him. How he could even think about dragging Severus away from his cauldrons. How Severus and himself should be the last people to manage a school, one with a disgust for children and most people, and the other with the habit to maim, kill or crucio everyone who offended him by breathing.

Ironic that Severus still had ended up as a teacher at Hogwarts.

It had ended with a good round of crucios for both and Barty volunteering to take the Headmaster's position, to save the school that had been more a home for him than his own, like for so many of them.

He still was a little put out that they thought the castle would decompose with him or Severus as the Headmaster. But he never had wanted the position himself. Barty had been his choice from the beginning, but the young man never would have agreed to take the position if he had simply offered it. Now, Hogwarts and the children were flourishing under him.

He looked at the young man before him, his bright eager eyes, nearly bouncing in his chair with the prospect of meeting the little Seer, not because of the Seer himself but because of his unique magic, at least at the moment. He knew his inner circle would welcome Mr Potter not only because he was Severus' ward and a Blood Seer, but also after getting to know him, because of himself. But he also knew he needed to be direct and explicit with some of them, which he had planned to do before they would meet the Seer tomorrow.

"You will all meet him tomorrow before the ball."

"I am the Headmaster, I could – "

"No, Barty! I had the opportunity to get to know Mr Potter and after years confined by the rebels and his years of hiding here at Hogwarts, he not used to be under such scrutiny. Severus' quarters, his home, should be his sanctuary, as is my office!" Marvolo glared at Barty. The thought of Barty meeting the little Seer on such private grounds, where the young man would be the most relaxed, did not settle well with him.

Barty grinned again, stood up and bowed. "As you wish, my Lord. Then I will take my leave."

Somehow, Marvolo had the feeling that Barty had seen much more in this short conversation than he had wanted him to see. It was not that he wanted to hide that he wanted more from Mr Potter than his status as his Court Seer. But knowing Barty, he would tease and make innuendos, which would make Mr Potter uncomfortable, something he did not want when the Seer met his inner circle for the first time.

Sighing, he went back to his paperwork. He really looked forward to tomorrow, observing how Mr Potter would handle himself around his inner circle, and then the ball itself.

A hiss shifted his attention to the area in front of the fireplace. Nagini was sleeping there, shifting and hissing occasionally. He had not known that snakes could dream before he had met Nagini.

He needed to introduce Nagini to the Seer, so far he had not dared to. Nagini was sometimes prone to jealousy when someone caught his attention. She already had remarked on his smell in his office. Surprisingly, she had not reacted negatively, normally she did not like the smell of other humans beside himself and only accepted half of his inner circle. Somehow, he had the feeling Mr Potter and Nagini would get along splendidly, even if they could not communicate directly. The thought evoked a small feeling of dread, both were equally stubborn characters, perhaps he should be happy they could not talk with each other. Salazar knew what they would come up with if they could.

* * *

The morning of the last day of the year, Harry was awoken by a cheerful Xerxes, loaded with packages, taking command of Harry's room and filling it with clothes – a lot of clothes – and mindless chatter. Resigning to the fate that the sanctuary of his bedroom, where only Severus and Draco ever had set foot in, was no longer a sanctuary, with all the Slytherins and exhilarated tailors invading it, he pulled the duvet over his head. Perhaps he could ignore the tailor and he would go away?

But Xerxes did not go away, and his annoyingly cheerful comments made it impossible to fall asleep again.

"Harry darling, you really should get up now. We still have so much to do before the ball. Let's see if the dress robes fit perfectly. You simply have to look your best today." He heard him moving around.

"And why do you have only one small drawer. And… oh Merlin, what are these dreadful clothes?!" Xerxes cried out, scandalized.

Harry sighed, lifted the duvet and glared at the man, who completely ignored him, mainly because he was in the middle of throwing Harry's clothes out of his drawer.

Grumbling and promising to himself to have a word with his guardian to not let anybody in, he slid out of bed. Sparing only a glance at the exuberant Xerxes, he grabbed a set of fresh clothes from the pile the tailor seemingly wanted to discard and stumbled to the bathroom for a long hot shower.

When he emerged, Severus greeted him with a cup of tea and an amused expression.

"Thanks." Harry took the cup from Severus and sipped it gratefully. Ah, perfect, strong with the right amount of sweetness.

"Marvolo told you to come to his office an hour before the Ball starts?"

Harry nodded and tried to hide a yawn behind his teacup. "Do you know why?" He asked. Since their argument, he had not talked with the Lord alone. He had only seen him at the meals, but at least he had the feeling the tension between them somehow had resolved itself. The Lord had greeted him with a nod and a small smile every time. He also had the feeling Lord Slytherin was watching him. More than once, he had felt the pressure of an intense glance on him and every time, his own eyes had found red ones looking at him. It was unsettling and a little ominous.

He certainly did not look forward to the Ball. But at least he was prepared. Draco and Pansy, who had insisted that he called her by her given name at some point, had practised dancing with him again yesterday, till both called him capable enough for now.

Harry sighed as he thought about yesterday. Ever since Draco and his friends had witnessed first-hand how easy it was for him be injured, they had made it their mission to prevent every single one of the accidental visions. He could not sit down on the table in the Great Hall before one of them had checked not only his tableware, but also the bench and the table for splinters. Draco had waited for him in the morning in the hallway in front of their quarters and checked if he wore his gloves and even had started to carry a spare pair with him. Pansy had started to link their arms while walking to prevent him from stumbling and smashing into the castle walls or whatever she thought could happen.

In total, they treated him like delicate china, and he already hated it. Inwardly grumbling, he shifted his attention back to Severus, who looked at him with a very disturbing glint in his eyes.

"You will be introduced to the 'family' so to speak." Severus' tone was completely casual, but Harry knew his guardian too well. The Potions Master found the whole situation amusing as hell.

Groaning, Harry emptied his cup. "So… 'family'… err… the inner circle?"

"Yes, and their families and partners. It is only prudent to introduce you to them before doing it to the whole nation."

"Does this mean I will meet…" Harry was not sure who he actually meant, there were too many crazy and difficult people in the inner circle. He theoretically knew them all by description and name, as Severus often enough complained about the imbeciles – like he mostly called them.

Severus smirked at him. "Every one of them. Finally, I am not alone in my suffering of their imbecility. From now on you will suffer with me."

"Why are you so happy about it?" Harry asked, slightly indignant. "I am your child, as you so often remind me. Shouldn't you try to shelter me or something?"

Severus chuckled. "Oh, but you remind me every time that you are nearly an adult. And as an adult you have to learn to handle such situations by yourself." He paused shortly to take a sip from his own mug. "And this is revenge for every time you laughed at me when I came back from one of the meetings. Now you finally will understand what I had to deal with for so long. I am looking forward to seeing how you will survive their antics and I can laugh at you when you start complaining."

Harry only rolled his eyes as an answer.

"If you want to be able to recognise your room, you should try to stop Mr Cavendish from redecorating." With this, Severus walked into the kitchen to get another cup of tea.

Harry sighed and tentatively glanced into his bedroom. Nearly every surface was covered with clothing and Xerxes was still standing in front of his wardrobe, frowning and throwing Harry's clothes out of it. Harry heard a distinguished 'Popp' and a house-elf appeared together with another set of wardrobes and drawers. The tailor happily directed them with a flick of his wand where he wanted to have them and started filling them with the clothes he had brought with him.

"Err… Xerxes…." Before Harry could even voice a question or complain, the man had pulled him into the room.

"Finally, Harry darling. Now stand here and let me see if the dress robes are perfect. Today will be your evening, you simply have to look stunning." With a flick of the tailor's wand, Harry was standing in his underwear in the middle of his room, another flick and he was clad in black trousers, a black silk shirt with a high collar and a dark green waistcoat. Xerxes was circling him, making adjustments with his wand and muttering.

"Xerxes, aren't my dress robes closed in the front?"

The amber eyes looked up to him from where they were examining the length of the waistcoat. "Yes, they are. Why, Harry darling?"

"What does it matter then what I am wearing beneath them?" Harry knew immediately that his question had appalled the tailor.

"What does it matter?!" Xerxes threw his arms in the hair, then fixed him with a slightly frightening glint in his eyes. "Harry darling, it is very important what you are wearing under your dress robes. Everything has to be perfect. Not only the surface has to look extraordinary. Your whole attire has to reflect not only your new status but also your beauty. There will be enough people who will begrudge you for the attention of our Lord and it takes time to convince them that you are worthy of standing beside him, based on your ability and intelligence. The very first impression must dazzle them into silence. And for this only the surface is not enough." Xerxes went back to make adjustments, but Harry was still not sure he understood why he also had to wear the – admittingly beautiful – waistcoat when nobody would ever see it.

He shrugged, if it made the tailor happy and stopped him in his pestering, he would wear it. He sighed as Xerxes let the dress robes float in front of him. He really hoped he did not need to try on every piece of clothing the man had brought with him, his stomach was already growling, and Harry really wanted to go to breakfast.

* * *

The moment Xerxes declared them finished with his dress robes for the evening, hanging them in front of his wardrobe and placing the rest neatly aside, Harry grabbed a set of everyday clothes and fled the room while dressing. He did not wait to find out if Xerxes only wanted to fit the outfit for this evening directly on him. When he stepped into the living room, he saw that Draco and Pansy were waiting for him. A quick glance to the clock confirmed that they were cutting it awfully close to the end of breakfast.

"You guys didn't have to wait for me."

Harry got only raised eyebrows as an answer as they made their way out of their quarters. Sighing, he accepted that Pansy linked arms with him as they walked through the dungeon corridor.

"Was Cavendish really finished with you or did you escape?" Draco enquired.

"A bit of both, after we were finished with the clothes for this evening, I fled the room. I think he called after me, but I didn't hear it. I had enough, I am not a dress-up doll," he said disgruntled. Pansy chuckled.

"But you make such a good doll." When Harry opened his mouth to protest loudly, Draco winked and grinned at him. Sighing, he only shook his head, too hungry to argue.

"But really, you were lucky. Normally, Cavendish takes hours to finish one outfit. We were thinking to simply ask the house-elves to bring some breakfast to your quarters and eat there with you." Draco continued.

"But I like eating in the Great Hall."

Now both of his friends - and wasn't that an incredible discovery, he had more than one friend - were looking oddly at him.

"Why? The Great Hall is not that interesting." Pansy stated.

Harry shrugged. „Maybe to you, but I first set foot in it on Yule, and that was not even a week ago and I was slightly distracted at that time. I was never allowed to go there while students were in attendance. I could have sneaked in, but as a Squib it was better to not be seen. So, for me the novelty to simply go into the Great Hall and have breakfast like everybody else hasn't worn off."

At this, both Slytherins said nothing, but simply walked with him into the Great Hall and set down for breakfast - after checking that there were no splinters where Harry tried to sit down and that the tableware had no cracks. All his previous arguments and protest that this was not needed had been ignored, so Harry only rolled his eyes at their antics, and if he felt a warm feeling settle in his chest at the simple fact that he had friends who cared enough to do this, no one needed to know.

* * *

The rest of the day was relatively quiet. Harry played chess against Draco in the Slytherin common room - and lost spectacularly, while Zabini laughed at him for even trying. It seemed he was Draco's favourite and only victim because no one else wanted to play against him anymore.

Sometime after the afternoon tea, the girls excused themselves and went to their dorm to get ready for the ball.

"It's hours till the ball! What are they doing that long?" Harry looked wide-eyed at Draco.

The blond shrugged. "Who knows. That's one of the mysteries. I think they use it as an excuse to gossip. But seriously Harry, shouldn't you go and get ready? At what time does our Lord want to see you?"

"An hour before the ball starts, so I still have time. It's not like I need hours to get ready, I only have to get dressed." Harry answered dismissively.

Draco and Zabini scrutinized him. "What are you doing with your hair?" The dark-skinned boy asked.

"Braid it like always? It only gets in my way if it's down."

Both boys looked at him in a way that Harry knew he had said something stupid or unbelievable. "What?"

"That will not do. You can't walk around in perfect attire but with a simple, everyday hairstyle. You will be standing at our Lord's side this evening, your image will reflect on him. If you only look half presentable, it says you did not care enough. Let's go." Zabini hauled him out of his armchair and led him out of the common room, Draco following up behind with an amused expression.

In his room, Harry was sent to shower while Zabini said something about inspecting his robes for the evening to find an appropriate hairstyle.

When Harry came back, freshly showered with still wet hair, he saw Draco and Zabini standing in front of his wardrobe, inspecting his robes and muttering to each other. The moment they saw him step inside his room, they fell silent and glanced at him in a way that Harry knew they had not simply talked about the colour. He looked the robes over but whatever they saw, Harry did not. They were still elegant and beautiful, and he did not want to know what they cost, but nothing else.

He had no time to think further about whatever it was that made these robes special as he was pushed into a chair Zabini had put into the middle of his rooms and the Slytherin started to comb through his long dark locks while discussing with Draco what would be the best way to style them. Harry listened dumbfounded and utterly confused about french braids, fish braids and at least dozens of other braiding styles he never had heard of. Knowing he could not escape, he sighed and leaned back, hoping the guys would at least not choose an utterly ridiculous or girly hairstyle.

The feeling of someone else combing through his hair and massaging his scalp was somehow relaxing.

Zabini finally addressed him directly while drying his hair. "But wow, Potter, you really have nice long hair, plenteous and silky. Why are you only ever walking around with a simple braid?"

Harry shrugged. "Why should I do something fancy and for whom? I only have them this long because short they are really unruly and messy, they are easier to handle if they are long enough to put them in a braid or ponytail. And please call me Harry."

As he looked over his shoulder, he saw Zabini grinning at him. "Blaise then. Now let's see what we could do with this wonderful, thick hair. You are sure you do not want to wear them down?"

Harry nodded and leaned back, bracing himself for what was coming. The next hours, it seemed that Blaise tried out every hairstyle he could think of while Draco made suggestions from the side. At one point, the dark-skinned Slytherin did send the blond to their dormitory to get some hair products, hairpins and more.

Not once was Harry allowed to look at himself. It seemed the two Slytherins distrusted his non-existing fashion sense. Harry had to acknowledge they were not completely wrong in doing so and both guys knew definitely more than him about what was an appropriate hairstyle for such a high-society event.

* * *

An hour before the ball would start, Harry was standing in front of the Dark Lords office, feeling uncomfortable in his outfit, even if he had to admit that the clothes fit perfectly, and the material felt really nice on his skin. He had seen himself in the mirror before he left and had stared at his reflection, dumbfounded. He had problems recognising himself, which only increased his unease.

Gnawing on his lower lip, Harry lifted his hand to knock on the door in front of him, hoping that nobody would realize _how_ awkward and out of his comfort zone he really felt.

As he stepped into the office after his knock was answered, he nearly stumbled. He knew that the Dark Lord was considered handsome. He had heard enough whispers and giggles and swoons in the corridor from girls and boys alike. He had even realised at the handful of meetings he had had with the Lord over the last week since Yule, that Lord Slytherin was definitely nice to look at. But the sight which greeted him when he saw the Lord now, was like a punch to his stomach.

The Lord stood near the fireplace, a large snake trapped over his shoulders, hissing softly with her. _Nagini_ , Harry's mind supplied, the Lord's familiar. But it was not the presence of the snake that left Harry slightly breathless.

Lord Slytherin wore black dress robes, with silvery embroideries at the rims and dark green ribbons around his forearms to keep the sleeves tight around his arms. The dark green lining was visible as he wore the robes open. Underneath, he was dressed in black trousers and a dark green silk shirt. A black waistcoat with the same silvery embroideries as the rims of the robes and a black tie complemented his outfit.

Lord Slytherin looked all in all like the powerful wizard that he was.

Harry desperately tried to contain his blush as he took in how the black of the Lord's outfit accentuated the red of his eyes and the black hair, styled in silky waves. He tried to ignore how the dark green gave his skin a slightly golden shimmer or how the clothes were clinging to his slim but muscular body, or how the robes brought out the broadness of his shoulders. He certainly did not acknowledge that, when those crimson eyes settled on him and the aristocratic features morphed into a small smile, he felt warmer than he should.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed the door behind him and tried to settle his chaotic mind and emotions behind his occlumency shields. He needed his wits and concentration for this evening. Being rattled by how handsome his Lord looked would only disturb him, as well as his awkwardness with the whole situation.

When he turned around again, Harry had himself at least a little bit under control again.

"Mr Potter, right on time." The glance from those red eyes looked him up and down approvingly and Harry was once again more than thankful for his natural occlumency shields and the control which came with them, even if he never had needed it to hide a blush so far. "And how beautiful you are. The other's will be here shortly, come and meet my familiar Nagini." The Lord gestured for Harry to approach him.

He certainly was not afraid of snakes, as he had had to milk enough of them for their venom, but the sheer size of Nagini was intimidating and when she shifted her attention to him, he gulped. It was unnerving to have that stare focused on him. What would happen if she thought he was dinner? Yes, the Lord was a Parselmouth, but he had heard the snake had a terrible temperament and did not always listen, or that was what some people thought. As nobody could understand her, that was only guesswork.

Lord Slytherin hissed at the snake as she lifted her head where it had been resting on the man's shoulder, her tongue tasting the air between them. Harry jumped slightly when the Lord suddenly laughed. His reaction had not gone unnoticed as the man stroked the snake's head and looked at Harry.

"I am sorry, Mr Potter, it was not my intention to frighten you. Nagini here is completely harmless, at least to the people I want her to be." The smirk accompanying this was not reassuring.

"Nagini would like to taste you."

"Taste me?!" Harry asked with alarm, looking with wide open eyes at the snake and the man in front of him.

"Ah, perhaps I should have phrased that differently. I told her that you are important for me and that you will be around a lot of time from now on. Therefore, she wants to get to know you better, for her that means she wants to smell you directly." Red eyes looked down at him in amusement and Harry realised that the Lord had come closer without him noticing, standing barely one step away now, so Harry had to tilt his head back to look him in the eyes. Then, his brain caught up with what Lord Slytherin had said and he understood, nodded and held very still as the snake leaned towards him and flicked her tongue over his cheek.

It tingled a little and when Nagini did it again, a small giggle escaped Harry. Suddenly, he felt a great weight on his shoulders and he watched nervously as the big snake moved from the man in front of him and settled around him, her head resting on his shoulder, tongue flicking out to tickle his cheek. When he shifted his gaze to Lord Slytherin, he found him smiling slightly at them, his eyes warm.

"It seems Nagini likes you."

"Really?" Instead of answering, Lord Slytherin hissed something at his snake, who shifted her attention shortly back to her wizard before she continued her ministrations on Harry's cheek.

"Yes, she likes how you smell. Apparently, you remind her of myself, whatever she means with that. She deems you an adequate substitute when I am not around. Therefore, don't be surprised if she suddenly shows up, she knows her way around Hogwarts."

A knock on the door interrupted whatever the Lord had wanted to add.

* * *

The Seer looked absolutely stunning this evening. Marvolo had known which dress robes the young man would wear for the ball but seeing him dressed in them had been something completely different.

The dark-green closed robes, exactly the same shade of green Marvolo wore himself in his attire, accentuated his slender form without being feminine. The fine, silvery embroideries shimmered slightly with every move of the Seer. The colour definitely suited Mr Potter and highlighted the colour of his eyes and his fair skin, which had blushed slightly when the Seer had seen him, Marvolo had noticed smugly. The wide sleeves flowed like liquid when he moved his arms.

And whoever had done Mr Potter's hair had out-done themselves. His black hair was braided in multiple plaits from his forehead to an artistically tussled bun at the top of his head with some strands of hair falling over his forehead. The hairstyle suited him and brought further attention to his unique eyes. Now if the Seer only could be persuaded to wear robes without a high collar, he could admire the slender neck hiding beneath the fabric.

All in all, Mr Potter looked _delicious_ and Marvolo felt a smug satisfaction that everyone who saw them together would understand the claim he had made with the robes they were wearing, everyone but the little Seer himself. And no one hopefully was stupid enough to go against his claim.

" _Is that the hatchling you wanted me to meet?"_ Nagini hissed beside his ear.

" _Yes, be nice to him, he is very important to me. And be careful to never break his skin, I explained his gift to you, remember?"_ He could never be too sure with his familiar. The snake tended to only remember what suited her and went often enough against his explicit orders if she thought it important.

" _I remember just fine."_ Even for him it was hard to read the nuances as Nagini spoke.

Complimenting the Seer did not bring on another blush, due to is displeasure, but then he remembered the natural Occlumency talent the young man had. It would certainly make the chase more interesting. Gesturing to him to step closer, he regarding Nagini again as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

" _Nagini, I would be highly displeased if something happens to this young man."_

The glance he got from his familiar could only be described as shrewd. " _It is not only his gift you are interested in. Let me taste him."_

Chuckling at his familiar, he stepped closer to the Seer. He got a shocked look when he conveyed the snake's wish and his regard for Mr Potter's bravery grew as he saw the tension in his body without flinching away as Nagini flicked his cheek. The giggle escaping the youth before him because of it, made Marvolo smile but when his familiar decided to leave his shoulder and settled around Mr Potter it was him who was shocked. Nagini had never allowed anyone besides him to carry her.

If a snake could look smug, Nagini certainly would right now.

" _He is so small and fragile."_ She practically cooed. " _I like him. He is warm and tastes and smells interesting. Reminds me of you before you made that ritual with the big snake. A rich and stormy fragrance. I think he will be perfect for cuddles. Did you already cuddle with him? When you are not here, I will cuddle with him and keep your mate safe. He doesn't look like he has the strength or the fangs to protect himself."_

Marvolo was quite grateful that the Seer could not understand Parseltongue in this moment as Nagini settled again on Mr Potter's shoulders, looking quite content and flicking at those pale cheeks again. Seeing his Seer carefully wrapped up in his familiar's coils stirred something in him and he was quite sure it was not jealously at his own familiar.

The knock on the door moments later reminded him that they were on a schedule.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

So next chapter we will finally have the Ball and the inner circle!

First published: 28th of December 2018

Last edited: 25th of August 2019


	13. The Inner Circle

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore nothing in the Harry Potter universe is mine. I only want to play in her little playground for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, favouring and reviewing. You made me smile and keep writing. You all deserve hugs!

I know it took me a while, but work got really intense. Also, I was a little stuck at one specific scene in this chapter, and I am not a fast writer, far from it, so please bear with me and be patient. I try to get the next chapter out faster, but no promises.

This chapter is beta'ed by the brilliant **GeMerope** , hugs and kisses to her!

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: The inner Circle**

With a quick glance to Mr Potter - and wasn't that a sight to behold, the young man wrapped in the protective coils of his snake familiar - Marvolo called for the one who had knocked to enter. He was only mildly annoyed at the interruption, as he had ordered them to send someone the moment everyone had arrived, but still….

The door opened and Severus stepped in, his dark eyes immediately drawn to his son in all but blood, and only the short widening of his eyes betrayed his surprise and concern of seeing Nagini around Mr Potter. He was one of the few to know that Marvolo did not always have full control over what his snake was doing, he knew that Nagini tended to do whatever she wanted.

The Potions Master bowed briefly to him, the angle exactly at the border between respectful and insulting, but he didn't remark on it as they were among themselves. He knew Severus was displeased with him, he had learned in the last days that the man was very protective of his ward.

"My Lord, everyone has gathered as ordered. They are awaiting you in the Great Hall."

Marvolo nodded and turned again to the Seer. "Mr Potter, before the Ball starts, I wish to introduce you to my most loyal and their families - my inner circle. As my Court Seer and Severus' son you will be considered one of them."

Then he addressed Nagini. _"We will meet now with my inner circle. Do you want to come with us or stay in front of the fire? The big gathering is afterwards."_ There was no equivalent for ball in Parseltongue, so everything that had a lot of people in attendance was a big gathering _._

The snake looked at him without moving her head from Mr Potter's shoulders. _"I will come with you, I have to protect this young hatchling. I will stay by his side for the big gathering."_

Marvolo couldn't completely hide the surprised hiss which escaped him _. "You want to stay for the big gathering? You hate it."_

" _Yes, but someone has to keep an eye on the little hatchling, and I don't trust your minions to do it."_ Nagini carefully extracted herself from the petite form of the young man and settled at the ground beside him. She definitely had made up her mind about the matter and short of stunning her, Marvolo could do nothing to prevent her from following them.

Sometimes it was a curse to have such a powerful but headstrong familiar.

" _How do you even know a term like minion?"_ Marvolo wondered.

Nagini did a certain hissing sound, that he had learned to interpret as a snake-giggle years ago. " _You call them that whenever you are displeased with them."_

Not deigning this an answer, he shifted his attention back to the two wizards in the room. "Nagini will accompany us and she wishes to stay close to Mr Potter during the ball as well. As long as she is not disturbing you, just ignore her. I am certain that the amount of people attending will drive her to leave earlier rather than later."

Severus narrowed his eyes briefly, but whatever he saw in Marvolo's eyes stopped him from saying something. The red-eyed man knew he was lucky that it was the day of the ball, therefore Severus had slipped into his role as his Lieutenant, treating him as a Lord should be treated. The man was good in knowing when he could and should use his privileges as his friend and when he had to be official. Too many people who didn't know the dynamics of Marvolo's inner circle would be at the ball today. His loyal Lieutenant was needed, not his friend.

He knew he would be in for a scolding tomorrow at least, or even more, depending how the evening would go.

"Let us go now, I am certain the others are eagerly awaiting us," he said and gestured towards the door, making sure that he walked beside the Seer down the hallway, while Severus followed them and Nagini slithered beside them one moment, then behind them the next, or even hurried to reach the Great Hall first.

When they reached the entry hall, Marvolo placed his hand at the small of the Seer's back and gently guided him into the Great Hall.

It was decorated rather opulently, with ice figures lining the walls, reflecting the light from thousands of candles and huge crystal chandeliers that floated high above the many round tables placed around the free dance floor in the middle of the Hall. The platform where the High table normally stood had been removed and the table itself replaced by several round ones.

Innumerable large snowflakes were slowly floating down in intricate patterns through the room. The tables were set with silver tableware and crystal goblets.

Marvolo sighed at the opulence, but Elisabeth Rosier, who managed these kinds of events for him, had on more than one occasion explained to him why it was needed.

A group of people was standing near the entrance, clearly waiting for them. The first one to notice them was Lucius and with his attention shifting to their entry, the others also turned towards them, greeting their Lord with a bow.

Nagini ignored the other humans in the room and slithered beside them, hissing reassuringly at Mr Potter, as it seemed she could taste his nervousness. " _Don't worry, little hatchling. These are Marvolo's minions, they are no threat. And I will keep an eye on the other bipeds and bite them for you as your flat unpractical teeth will not even break skin properly, you don't even have venom. You humans are so defenceless."_ She sounded utterly bewildered.

Marvolo kept his face carefully blank, only allowing the smile trying to break through to lift the corner of his mouth slightly. Ignoring the murmur of his familiar, he regarded his inner circle. He saw the moment the more observant ones of them realised the matching robes they were wearing and how he still had his hand resting on the small of Mr Potter's back. He saw the small smirk Narcissa sent in her husband's direction, who looked a little disgruntled – was that a galleon being passed between them? – while their son stood beside them, clearly trying not to laugh at his father's expense.

The Lestrange brothers exchanged a look he couldn't decipher, but Bella, next to her husband, practically beamed at them, her eyes got a maniacal gleam as her gaze shifted between him and Mr Potter.

Persephone smiled at Mr Potter and her oldest son, the Lord of the family since her husband had fallen chronically ill, Cyrus Parkinson looked intrigued. Marvolo was sure the young Lord had already heard some stories about the Seer, if he had to guess from the young Ms Parkinson standing proudly at their side.

Barty was bouncing, looking nothing like the esteemed Headmaster he theoretically was. Marvolo did send him a scalding look when he caught the mischievous twinkle in the young Headmaster's eyes as he looked the young Seer up and down. Barty stopped bouncing immediately, understanding the silent message and started pouting while crossing his arms huffily.

Marvolo tried to ignore his antics and asked himself, not for the first time, why the majority of his inner circle was quirky at best, if not totally insane.

Most of the others had masked their surprise fast into carefully neutral expressions, especially when Nagini placed herself around Marvolo and Mr Potter as they stopped walking. She tasted the air with her tongue, then rested her head on the young man's shoulder.

They all knew how picky Nagini was, regarding whom she liked and whom not. The majority of them had been at the receiving end of a hissing rant of her at least once. Even without being a Parselmouth they understood her quite fine when she bared her teeth at them and flicked them with her tail. So, they normally kept their distance, seeing her looking that comfy with the Seer unsettled them at least a little and definitely influenced their opinion on the young man.

"I called you here to introduce someone to you." Instantly, all the measuring looks concentrated on Mr Potter disappeared and their attention was concentrated on him, as it should be.

He indicated to the young man at his side. "Mr Potter will be introduced as my official Court Seer this evening, as most of you already know, and I consider him as one of the inner circle. Not only is he Severus' son, but he also used his unique magical gift in our favour for years now, without anyone of us knowing. His confirmation as a Blood Seer not only brought us the awareness that magic is more diverse than we thought till now, but also the opportunity to discover other ways in which magic manifests and the possibility to harness the power of these unique witches and wizards."

Now all the gazes were again on the slightly blushing young man.

"But his magical gift comes with a price. Every vision is paid in blood and pain. Every injury leads to an accidental vision and must be avoided." Marvolo swept his gaze over them and caught the eyes from some of them to drive the message home that he would hold them all accountable to prevent such accidents by keeping an eye on the Seer.

"With his announcement as my Court Seer today, Dumbledore will have his suspicion confirmed. Mr Potter and the old man already have a history and I am sure that Dumbledore will not simply leave it be. I hold all of you responsible to be vigilant." He heard a nearly inaudible sigh from his side and caught a short glimpse of the disgruntled expression on Mr Potter's face, who knew exactly what his comment meant.

With a last glance over his most trusted and their families, he gripped Nagini to dislocate her from Mr Potter under her explicit protest, stepped away and indicated that they were allowed to approach, giving them the opportunity to introduce themselves.

* * *

The crowd before him was a little intimidating. He never had been the focus of so many people at the same time. But he caught the smile and wink from Draco and reminded himself that nobody in this room was after him, they all were people Lord Slytherin and Severus trusted, at least to an extent.

When Lord Slytherin stepped away from him, taking Nagini with him, he felt a small pang of loss when the warm presence of the hand at his back disappeared. He shook his head, not understanding why he would feel like that.

Then he didn't have time to think about it anymore as he was pressed into an impressive black-clad cleavage by thin but surprisingly strong arms and a voice cooed above him. "Oh, my little nephew is so adorable."

"Let him go Bella, he has to breathe," another voice, male, came from the side.

"But did you see those eyes? And that glorious black hair? And how small and cute he is? Our Lord said we have to take good care of him, the sweet little bean." The grip around him felt steel-like, Harry certainly had problems to breathe and his head felt somewhat dizzy.

"That is all true, my dear. But your new nephew still has to breathe and taking care of him doesn't mean suffocating him." The voice was insistent, and someone forced the steel bands around him to open.

With a gasp, Harry dislodged himself from the person holding him and took several greedy breaths of air before he looked at who had assaulted him – even if he had a good guess who the insane person was.

Wild, black curls framed a pale face with dark hooded eyes, containing a slightly crazy twinkle, dark red lips were pulled into a pout as Bellatrix Lestrange looked down at him, which she could because despite being not on the tall side, she still was a few inches taller than him. Then she caught his gaze, grinned at him and threw her arm around his shoulder, squeezing painfully.

"Hi there, little nephew, I am your Aunt Bella and I already know we will be best friends." She sounded like he was three.

Harry ignored the sickly-sweet coo of Bellatrix Lestrange but didn't push her away and shifted his attention to the two wizards standing in front of him, who were nodding in greeting to Severus, who was standing at Harry's side. Both were nearly the same height, both were slightly muscular without being too bulky. An older and a younger version of the same blueprint.

The older one had wavy black hair, pulled back into a ponytail and a neatly trimmed goatee, pale blue eyes regarded Harry above a thin nose. The younger ones' black hair was trimmed short, only a finger width of black left on his head. His nose was equally thin like his brother's, but he had no beard and deep blue eyes. A big grin split his face nearly in half.

Harry knew without asking who these two brothers were, the witch at his side one big indicator. Her husband looked apologetic at him and offered his hand, which Harry shook. As he introduced himself, Harry recognized by the voice who had tried to rescue him from the death grip before.

"Rodolphus Lestrange, Mr Potter. Quite an interesting magical gift you have there. Pay her no mind." He indicated to his wife still pressing Harry into her side. "You are like a shiny new toy. After a while she will be not as… _exuberant_ and will go back to normal - or as normal as possible for her." He grinned at him and sent his wife a small smile of affection. At his side, his younger brother let out a barking laugh.

"That's a good one Dolphus. I think I never heard Bella and normal in the same sentence." He turned to Harry and offered his hand for him to shake, too. "Rabastan Lestrange, my pleasure." His gaze wandered over Harry's body, his smile turning into a saucy grin, which made Harry a little uncomfortable.

Then his eyes shifted to someone behind Harry, his eyes widened shortly, and his smile changed to something much sweeter. "It seems we will see a lot of you from now on, Mr Potter." He nodded to Severus and stepped aside to let the next people greet him, leaving Harry confused.

What had he meant? And what had that smile been?

He was distracted by the group of three distinguished blond people stepping up to him and Severus. All three Malfoys were smiling at him, Draco had the biggest grin and Harry knew only the presence of his parents - and the etiquette-drilling he had gotten from a young age - prevented the blond teen from bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Mr Potter, a pleasure to meet you again." Lucius Malfoy nodded to him with a small uplift of his lips. "Your display at the blessing was a sight to see and I hear we have you to thank for that Dumbledore was unable to go through with his plan to kidnap our children." At his words, Lucius and Narcissa looked briefly at their son before turning to Harry again.

Harry ducked his head to hide his blush, so far no one besides Severus had ever thanked him for the things he did because of one of his visions. "The only thing I did was tell Severus and Lord Slytherin about my vision."

"And that enabled them to stop whatever Dumbledore had planned for our children." At this, Narcissa dislocated her sister from him and gave him a short but warm embrace. The moment she released him, Draco was there, ginning at him.

"I see, Scarhead, you managed not to destroy Blaise's and my hard work and dressed yourself." He smirked. "I hope you can get away from our Lord during the ball so that I can introduce you to some more of your future schoolmates. Most of the children from the inner Circle are either much younger than us or already out of Hogwarts, but Pansy and Theo are here, as well as Aunt Bella's twins and three of the Rosier children."

Harry tried to not be horrified by the idea of being introduced to the Lestrange twins. Severus had never talked about them much, but he knew they were fourth year students, one in Slytherin, one in Ravenclaw, and both had seemingly inherited some of Bellatrix' insanity.

Draco laughed at him when he saw his expression. "They are not that bad, thankfully they inherited more from their father than their mother." Harry was sceptical as he had heard otherwise from Severus, but his guardian was not fond of most of the students, so his opinion was not always reliable.

Then his friend stepped aside to let the next person come up and introduce himself and Harry shuddered, realising that he already was overwhelmed with this small gathering of people, what would the Ball be like with a lot more?

* * *

Marvolo watched with amusement how Bella had reacted to Mr Potter – he had to keep a firm grip on Nagini as she tried to launch herself at the black-haired witch – and how the Seer had managed her. He could already see that Bella would be an excellent choice if he needed someone for the Seer's protection. The witch may be a little crazy, but she was also very powerful, an unrivalled dueller and very loyal to the people she deemed worthy and her family. It seemed she already regarded Severus's ward as family.

He observed as the Malfoys stepped aside and Augustus Rookwood stepped forward, to introduce his wife and their one-year old daughter. He suppressed a laugh when the Seer nervously fidgeted as Mrs Rookwood placed the infant in his arms and smiled encouraging, before she slightly slapped her husband on the arm when he said something Marvolo couldn't hear to the young man. He was sure the Unspeakable had asked after his Blood Seer abilities, the whole Department of Mysteries was acting like a beehive since the discovery.

The Parkinsons followed, their daughter giving the Seer a short hug, while Persephone introduced her son. They talked briefly and the young Lord patted Mr Potter good-naturedly on the shoulder, before leaving Mr Potter to the next person.

Antonin Dolohov and his husband were the next to step up to introduce themselves and he observed with interest how Mr Potter, who had never really had the opportunity to socialise and see for himself the different ways a wizarding family could be built of, reacted to the two husbands. He smiled but was visibly shocked when Maximilian Dolohov didn't shake his hand but enveloped him in a bearhug instead. The man was very tall and bulky, and the small frame of the Seer nearly disappeared completely behind those thick muscular arms. Antonin rescued the poor young man out of his husband's arms, laughing.

When the Carrow twins crowded in on the Seer, he shortly thought he had to interfere. He knew both, but especially Amycus, were really interested in meeting the young man. But Regulus clapped both on the shoulder, interrupting them before even Severus had time to rescue his ward. The group shortly talked, before Regulus winked at the Potions Master and his ward and steered the twins away.

After the rest of his Elite had introduced themselves and exchanged a few words with Mr Potter and Severus, Barty more or less materialised before the pair with a grin that both tensed up from, and Marvolo knew he should have seen this coming, despite having no affinity for divination at all.

* * *

It was exhausting, getting to know that many people. Nobody was rude or anything, but still, so many new faces and names. Having to accept their hands and hugs and smile at them. He never would laugh at Severus grumbling about these meetings ever again. Harry already had enough, and this was only the inner circle, the actual ball hadn't even started. _There_ would be even more people.

Harry was thankful that he at least knew some of the people beforehand, and that he had at least heard of some of the others by tales.

He nearly panicked when the small brown-haired fragile-looking baby had been put into his arms. He never even had seen a baby before, and he was frightened he would drop it or squeeze it too tight. The baby looked so breakable and he was more than thankful when Mrs Rookwood took her daughter back with a kind and understanding smile. She squeezed his shoulder and scolded her husband when he tried to talk about his work at the Department of Mysteries and how he definitely had to visit him there. His magic was apparently oh-so-fascinating.

He had to hide his amused smile when, after rescuing him from the bearhug of his husband, Mr Dolohov mentioned that his one and a half-head taller husband was a teacher at a magical kindergarten and the children always were climbing all over him. Harry easily could picture the man with his warm, kind brown eyes playing climbing scaffold for children.

Harry felt eternally gratitude when Professor Black managed to rescue him from the two Carrow Professors. The gleam in their eyes when they had immediately started to talk about his magic and that he would certainly have to attend the Blood magic class, had been frightening. Black shortly talked with Harry and Severus, invited himself over for tea on Sunday and managed to get the promise from Harry to be there as well.

The next person he at least knew by sight, Professor Rosier, the teacher for Ancient Runes, introduced his wife and three children, all out of Hogwarts already.

"Mr Potter, I really hope you consider taking Ancient Runes as one of your classes. Active magic is not needed to study and understand the fundamentals," The Professor stated while shaking his hand.

"I haven't completely decided yet what classes besides Blood Magic I will take."

The professor's face lit up. "But then you really should take my class, Mr Potter. To understand the old art of Blood Magic, a fundamental understanding of runes and runic circles is necessary."

The professor's wife smiled apologetically at Harry and patted her husband's hand.

"Sorry, dear. He always gets so passionate when it comes to his subject."

Harry smiled reassuringly but was eternally grateful when Draco stepped up to Professor Rosier, engaging him in a discussion about an article in the last Runology magazine. By the wink Draco sent his way, Harry knew he owed his friend.

More people introduced themselves and Harry's head swam from all the names. McNair, Yaxley and his two sons, Avery and his son, Mulciber and his family – who in Salazar's name had eight children? - Theodore Nott, who would be one of his Slytherin classmates, and his father. They all wanted to shake his hand, hug him, get to know him… it was overwhelming.

The last person to appear before him with a grin was the Headmaster. Harry wasn't sure why this was needed, he already knew the man. He never really had talked to him, but as he had lived in Hogwarts for the last five years, he had seen him once or twice and heard more stories – or rants - from Severus about Barty Crouch than he'd wanted.

"Mr Potter, finally we meet." The grin on Crouch's face made Harry wary.

"I didn't really leave Hogwarts in the last five years. You could have met me anytime."

The grin widened with his words. "Ah yes, but then you hadn't been _that_ interesting."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster. "I didn't change at all."

"Oh, but yes, you did. Nobody knew of your ability, nor did you have the interest of our Lord." Crouch tilted his head to one side, the grin still splitting his face nearly in two and a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry scowled at him. "With other words, now that you know of my magical ability, which I didn't really reveal voluntary, now that I am _worth_ something in your eyes – now you take interest," he sneered.

Crouch blinked as if he didn't understand what offended Harry. "Why yes? Isn't that natural? Why should I have interacted with a nobody?" Then, his gaze travelled over Harry and he smiled. "But now, you are not a nobody anymore. Now you have the favour of our Lord, you are a wizard, took the prestigious position as the Court Seer and you are an eye candy, there will be a lot of families interested in forming a connection with you, in whatever way possible. Lucky for you our Lord already displayed his claim, or you would drown in marriage proposals."

Harry felt Severus beside him stiffen but didn't take his eyes off the man before him. He was quite sure that the man was as insane as Bellatrix was, in his own kind of way.

"I would have preferred to stay a nobody, thank you very much. And I don't know what you mean with that our Lord claimed me, besides taking the position as his Court Seer. And even if I wanted to marry someday – which I certainly don't want – I would not consider the people who were happily scorning and ignoring me because of my lack of magic and are only now interest because I proved them wrong." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at Crouch, who regarded him with an amused expression.

"You are certainly an interesting specimen, Mr Potter. I look forward to seeing more of you." He held his hand out for Harry to shake, who looked at him suspiciously but took his hand, nonetheless.

The moment his hand connected with the other's, the Headmaster grabbed it firmly around the wrist with his other hand, removed his black glove and scrapped with something sharp over Harry's palm, looking hungrily at his hand. Harry felt the short sharp pain but before he could even properly register it, a growled "Barty" came from someone at his side and a large warm hand pried the hand holding Harry's wrist open.

The moment they were not connected anymore, Harry was simultaneously pushed further away from Crouch by two sets of arms from the two people who appeared between them and pulled away by the arm wrapping around his middle. When his hand was lifted for inspection, Harry realised that Lord Slytherin was the one holding him against a broad chest and carefully examining his hand, a mixture of worry and fury in his face.

The increasing noise made Harry look around. He saw that wands had been drawn, all pointing towards Crouch, who looked completely undisturbed by the people all talking at once. The loudest of them was surprisingly Bellatrix, who was standing beside Severus between Harry and Crouch.

"Nobody hurts my sweet little Harrykins!" Her voice was rather shrill and by the way she was gripping her wand, Harry wasn't sure she wouldn't be flinging hexes at Crouch in any moment.

Draco hovered near, behind his parents who blocked him in the same manner Bellatrix and Severus were blocking the direct line between Harry and Crouch, looking with concern at Harry, but didn't dare to interrupt the Lord's inspection.

A soft touch on his palm startled Harry. Slytherin was now not simply looking at his hand anymore, he traced the inside of the hand with a confused look.

Harry huffed and tried to reclaim his hand. "Nothing happened, you can all stop fussing."

All heads snapped to him, and Harry could see through the gap between Bellatrix and Severus that Crouch was now pouting in disappointment, when he realised that Harry was not having a vision.

"What do you mean nothing happened? He took your glove and scratched you with a conjured blade!" Slytherin didn't raise his voice, but everyone fell silent regardless.

Harry sighed. "I already guessed that someone would try something like this. And even if not, there are too many possible ways to lose the black gloves, even if they are tight, and accidents happened." He gestured with his free hand to the other one. "I'm wearing extra thin skin-coloured and perfectly fitted - to not only the shape of my hand but also skin-colour - nearly indestructible gloves underneath the black ones. Mr Cavendish was very happy to provide them." He waggled with the fingers of the hand Lord Slytherin still kept hold on.

The gloves were made from the skin of a nearly extinct dragon race, very hard to acquire. Harry had always wanted to have gloves made of it, as they were nearly indestructible, only Basilisk venom or fiendfyre or something similar would be able to destroy them. But he never had the connections and money he would have needed to buy enough skin to make gloves out of it. But Cavendish, as the official tailor of Lord Slytherin and the money of the Lord behind him, certainly had, and Harry happily had used the opportunity.

Now Slytherin was not the only one narrowing his eyes at Harry and Severus stepped towards him, looking first at his hand, then regarded Harry with a suspicious expression.

"What do you mean you already guessed that someone would try something? Did you have a vision you didn't tell us about?" His guardian glared at him.

"No, I didn't have a vision, but I have common sense." Harry rolled his eyes and shrugged. "There will be a lot of people who either don't believe whatever the rumour mill contains or who simply want to verify it themselves or are curious, like the Headmaster, I think. I thought to better be safe than sorry."

"It concerns me to see that you have enough common sense to plan for such an occurrence but not to be disturbed by it." The deep voice of Slytherin came from behind him and Harry was suddenly very much aware that the Lord was still holding him pressed against his chest, as he could feel the vibrations at his back when he talked.

Trying to ignore the presence of the wizard in his personal space, he shrugged again. "What difference does it make if someone triggers a vision accidentally or deliberately? A vision is a vision."

Nobody commented on that statement.

* * *

Marvolo knew already that there would be hell to pay later, but he had to stun Nagini. The snake had tried to launch herself at Barty and had been definitely ready to bite him to inject her very deadly poison. He only had a split second to decide his course of action and stunning his familiar in this situation was right, but Nagini hated to be stunned.

It only increased his fury at Barty. What had the imbecile been trying to accomplish by pulling that stunt?

Only the presence of Mr Potter, quite literary in his arms at the moment, prevented him from hexing the nutter on the spot. After making sure that the Seer really hadn't come to harm, he reluctantly released him and beckoned Barty towards him. The man didn't even look remorseful – for now.

"I don't know why you thought that would be a good idea, but if you ever think about doing something like this again, I will let Bella play with you," he hissed at the wizard, who finally blanched as they both shortly looked over to the black-haired witch who was fussing over her petite nephew, who looked adorably disgruntled by the attention, but Marvolo couldn't linger on that currently.

"Do you understand me, Barty?" He wasn't even sure if he was speaking English or Parseltongue, as he hissed through clenched teeth. By Barty's clear "Yes, my Lord.", he either wasn't slipping into Parseltongue or Barty guessed correctly what he was saying. He gestured the wizard to follow him out of the Great Hall.

"I am highly displeased by your actions. I don't want to hear excuses or justifications. I completely understand that you are interest in the way his magic works, but jumping at him like this, deliberately scratching and trying to cause him harm, goes against what I promised him. I vowed to protect him, promised him a lifelong protection against everyone who wishes him harm and then one of _my_ Elite, tries exactly this!" Marvolo didn't scream, he was much too furious to scream.

Now Barty looked horrified for a moment, then he steeled himself. He knew what was coming.

"Silence charm?" He was still one of the favourites, so he would leave him the choice.

"No charm, my Lord."

Marvolo acknowledged this with a nod, deep down pleased that Barty hadn't asked for the charm and lifted his wand. "You know what will happen if you can't keep quiet?"

Barty nodded, gritted his teeth and closed his hand in tight fists. "Yes, my Lord."

"Crucio." He cast the spell with a cold voice.

Marvolo watched as Barty fell to the floor, his body convulsing, his muscles spasming under the spell, but not even a grunt left his lips. Sweat gathered on his forehead as the man trashed on the floor.

Marvolo lifted the spell after a minute.

"Never do this again, Barty." He got a weak nod as an answer. "Our guests will be here in twenty minutes. Be presentable by then."

Marvolo walked back into the Great Hall, where Mr Potter was now in a discussion with Amycus about his imminent O.W.L.s test. As the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, Amycus was the one to organise them. On one hand, he was pleased to see that Barty's actions hadn't had an effect on Mr Potter, but on the other hand the Seer's disregard for his own wellbeing was at least somewhat alarming. If he hadn't had the foresight to wear a second glove, he could have been thrown into a vision and Marvolo knew how straining those visions were on the young man.

He would have to observe Mr Potter and perhaps have a talk with him about it. But for now, he was pleased that the unique young man was welcomed by the people he trusted the most. Barty aside, this meeting had gone well, and he was amused by all the knowing glances his inner circle had sent his way. They all had understood the message beyond the introduction of his new Court Seer.

Marvolo couldn't wait to introduce his Seer to the rest of magical Britain.

* * *

A short while later, Lord Slytherin lead Harry to one of the round tables at the front of the hall, pulling the chair out for him and settling on his right side while Severus took the chair on his other side. The Malfoys took the other seats, leaving three more chairs open.

At exactly seven o'clock, the first people started to trickle into the hall, all stopping at their table, bowing to the Lord and nodding to the rest of the table's occupants. More than one glance rested a second longer on Harry than on the others. It seemed the rumour mill had already reached most of them. As the hall filled itself with more and more people, Harry felt the nervousness he had lost whilst talking with the inner circle, resurface.

Taking a deep breath, Harry tried to reassure himself that everything would be alright. He only had to stay beside Slytherin, nod and smile and not trip over his feet whilst dancing.

That shouldn't be so difficult, or is it?

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

So now, GeMerope and I are through with editing all previously published chapters. Now I am going back to writing new ones.

First published: 20th of March 2019

Last edited: 15th of September 2019


	14. The Ball

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore nothing in the Harry Potter universe is mine. I only want to play in her little playground for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

 **AN:** Thank you all for reading, following, favouring and reviewing. You made me smile and keep writing. You all deserve hugs!

This chapter took longer than I planned to write, I would apologize for it, but it was not because of laziness. Real life with all its problems had its way to prioritise my attention. I had a setback period of depression and only two weeks ago my boss told me they had no more finances for the research project I am working on, so from January I have to search for a new job and till then I have to put the last touches to my PhD thesis, submit it and then prepare for my Defence.

But hey, at least then I have time to visit my sister and one of my best friends more often, who both gave birth to sweet baby boys this autumn.

I am very grateful for your patience. I try to get the next chapter out faster, but no promises.

This chapter is beta'ed by the wonderful **GeMerope** , many many thanks and hugs and kisses to her.

Have fun reading.

 **On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: The Ball**

Harry was startled out of his thoughts when Slytherin stood and took a step away from the table after another pair of guests had paid their respects to him. The others on the table followed suit and Harry quickly stood himself. The Lord gestured for Harry to stand beside him and then looked in the direction of the doors.

Harry felt a stab of annoyance when he saw the Headmaster walking their way. He would never admit it to anyone _,_ but the previous action _had_ made him queasy. He had seen the expression of Crouch; it had reminded him too much of what he had often seen in Dumbledore's or Moody's faces. Crouch didn't see him as a person, he also was only interested in his magical ability, he even had said as much – at least he had been honest.

He shuddered shortly. The look in the man's eyes was part of his nightmares. He hadn't lied, a vision was a vision regardless _how_ they were initiated, but someone deliberately cutting him for their own selfish reasons and gain was his worst fear.

A warm touch at the small of his back brought him out of his thoughts. Lord Slytherin sent him a short, questioning glance, then he looked ahead and smiled. Harry followed his gaze and blinked twice.

Three people were led to them by Crouch. Two women and a man. The man was rather ordinary: light skin colour; brown, neatly styled hair; ordinary height; ordinary build. His dress robes were in the latest style, as Harry had learned the very same morning from Xerxes while listening to his babbling about cuts, colours, styles… and so much more he never wanted to know. They were dark ocean-blue, buttoned up till they started billowing out around the hips, revealing dark shimmering trousers underneath.

The two women beside him were as extraordinary as he was ordinary. They were obviously mother and daughter, both tall and willowy. Both had waist-length shimmering blond hair. On the older it shone with a golden hue under the candlelight, while the younger one's had more of a silvery shimmer. Their fair complexions were smooth and perfect, red lips, not too thin, not too thick, lifted on both faces to reveal even, white teeth. Mother and daughter had huge deep-blue eyes, nearly the same colour their elegant dress-robes were.

Lord Slytherin greeted both with a kiss on the back of their hands and shook the hand of the man, then he turned to Harry, who finally managed to stop staring.

"Mr Potter, let me introduce you to French Ambassador Delacour and his lovely wife and daughter." Red eyes beckoned him nearer, while Harry saw a flicker of surprise on the families' faces. He wasn't sure what exactly it meant that the Lord had introduced them this way, but it seemed the message was a surprise to them – whatever it was.

"Mr Potter takes up the position of my Court Seer officially starting today," Slytherin stated and Harry saw the flicker of _something_ in the French man's face.

Harry awkwardly shook the Ambassador's hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

Unsure how to greet the Ambassador's wife and daughter and being uncomfortable with kissing the back of their hands, he held his hand out for a handshake. He got another startled look from Mrs Delacour, but when she released his hand after shaking it, his face was suddenly caught in between two manicured hands.

Ms Delacour actually _squealed_ : "'e is magnifique. So young an' takeeng on ze responsibilité of being ze Cour Voyant, 'ow admirable."

He wasn't entirely sure if he understood her correctly, it would take time to get used to her accent. Then, she kissed him on both cheeks, her sweet flowering scent made Harry's nose itch.

"Oui, oui, 'e certainly iz, Fleur. Now, let us seet, you will 'ave more opportunités to fawn over 'im." Her mother patted her on the arm and Harry's face was released.

He sighed. What was with people and not respecting his personal space? He caught the amused gaze of Lord Slytherin and glared back at him, which only made the Lord grin slightly, before his expression morphed again into a polite smile for his guests.

Together they walked back to the table and sat down - Lord Slytherin not only pulling the chair out for Mrs and Ms Delacour but also for Harry again - _after_ Ms Delacour reacted to Draco in not quite the same but similar enough way. Draco took it with stride but couldn't keep the blush entirely off his face. He scowled at Harry when he saw him hiding a smile behind his hand.

Only a short time later, it seemed all the guest had arrived, as the doors to the Hall closed and silence descended over the room. Lord Slytherin stood and waved his hand, effectively brightening the light. He made an imposing figure, standing there in his black and green attire.

"Welcome to you all, friends and invited guests, to our annual New Year's ball. The last year, especially the last weeks of it, brought far-reaching changes for our society, which I hope we all will embracing in the upcoming year. Magic showed us how much more she has in store for us and how little we actually know about her. With the discovery of her gifts beyond what we thought magic could be, our society can only prosper. Wizarding Great Britain still stands as one of the strongest magical counties with the best education that school can provide. I want to thank all of you for your contribution to this."

Harry was mesmerized. He never had really seen how Lord Slytherin enthralled the masses, how much of a speaker and charmer he was. It was fascinating to watch, he could practically see how the magic of his words floated between the people, captivating them. He could see how people sat straighter after he thanked them. How some blushed. How they hung onto every word he was saying.

"We have to strive forward, so our society can grow further. Every one of you can contribute to this. The revelation of the last weeks show how important it is not to disregard someone with even the smallest amount of magical blood. It showed how important it is not the hang on old beliefs if they only hold us back. Magic itself revealed to us that there is more to her than spells and wand waving. If we embrace these discoveries fully, wizarding Great Britain can only emerge stronger. Let us hold to the old traditions that serve us well in this new time, but never let them hold you back."

He made a short pause and let his gaze wander over the people in attendance.

"For this, I installed an old position again. A position of prestige, which disappeared because the required skillset had vanished over the years of dangerous inbreeding of our ancestors. Today I want to introduce the young man to you who made us aware of non-core magic, and I am proud to say that he agreed to take on the position of my Court Seer."

Lord Slytherin turned to him and gestured for Harry to step up to his side, which he did after a gentle nudge from Severus. He was a little disgruntled, it sounded like he had revealed his abilities willingly – yes, well he had in a way – and hadn't been manipulated by the Lord into agreeing. But he put on his best smile and stood beside the Lord, while hundreds of eyes regarded him. He stared somewhere above the crowd, trying to ignore the stares and whispers.

The whole situation felt surreal and the attention made Harry break out in cold sweat, too many eyes were on him.

The Lord placed one hand on his shoulder and addressed the hall again. "I present to you Harry Potter, ward of Potions Master Severus Snape, Potions apprentice and Court Seer."

The crowd clapped and Harry shifted uncomfortably, still not looking at the faces turned in his direction, too afraid to see someone from his past sitting there. He refrained from biting his bottom lip in worry.

Maybe he was simply paranoid. It was Lord Slytherin's ball, the Lord would surely not be lax on the security measurements and knew who was invited.

But still, he didn't like the attention from all those people and relief filled him when the Lord's next words shifted the attention to himself again. "Now, I wish you all a wonderful evening and may Mother Magic be with us in the upcoming year." Everybody clapped and cheered and Harry and Slytherin took their seats at the table again.

Harry sat stiffly, he still felt too many eyes on him, and not even Severus' reassuring presence could calm him completely. He felt like hiding in his room as he did when he had arrived at Hogwarts. He knew Dumbledore would hear about this before the new year would even begin, the man had his ways. And he knew that it would mean he had a target on his back again.

Tension filled him and suddenly he had the feeling that the glances were not simply curious or assessing – no, they felt hostile. He really hoped it was only his panic playing a trick on him.

Harry took a gulp from his water-filled goblet to moisturise his suddenly very dry mouth. Trying to get the slight shaking in his hands under control, he folded them in his lap. Immediately, a familiar warm hand covered them and squeezed them slightly. Looking to his right, he saw the concern in his guardian's eyes and squeezed back.

He would be fine; he only needed a moment to get his panic back under control.

In an attempt to distract himself, Harry looked around the table. Draco was in a deep conversation with the Ambassador's daughter, in French if Harry heard some words correctly, the Ambassador and his wife were talking with the Malfoys and Lord Slytherin.

A quick glance back to Severus showed him eyeing the hall, eyes sharp and assessing. When he looked at Lord Slytherin and Draco's parents again, he saw that their glances also flickered around the room from time to time. When they saw him glancing at them, they all sent him a small reassuring smile. Even Draco – blushing and completely enthralled with the French girl – shortly sent him a questioning glance.

Harry took a deep breath as warmth filled him, there were people looking out for him. He managed a small smile. He would be fine. He was grateful nonetheless that Severus' hand only left his when the food appeared on their plates.

The food was excellent, even if Harry didn't quite remember what everything had been. They had several courses and he was sure at some point he had eaten fish, and another had been one of the tenderest meats he had ever tasted. After came the dessert - some rich chocolate cream or pudding with a fruity undertone and a crisp layer on top of it – which he didn't even try to finish. Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed, he was nearly unpleasantly full.

But he also felt settled. Now that he was - so-to-speak - in the open and his initial panic had disappeared, Harry felt somehow lighter and free. No more hiding. The thought should have frightened him, it had, but now with the knowledge that it couldn't be reversed, the tension and unease he had felt for days was gone.

He felt more like himself again. What was done was done. Slytherin had his big announcement and now Harry could react to whatever was coming like he had done every time there had been a big change in his life.

He hated sitting and waiting. Sometimes his visions demanded for action immediately. That was what Harry was good at, reacting and making decisions in the moment of action. He wasn't good with long plans full of waiting and tension, even if sometimes they had been necessary.

Now all that had to be done today was to see how the wizarding high society would react to his presence and the _privilege_ given to him. Severus had talked with him about it, but they came to the conclusion that they simply couldn't know beforehand.

This was more how Harry was used to doing things.

He knew Slytherin wanted him to be on his best behaviour, dazzling everyone, be charming and well mannered, but that wasn't who Harry was, and even if he hadn't had much contact with people, the knowledge and experience his visions gave him made up for it. They would get a milder version of the real him or nothing at all. Lord Slytherin would learn that Harry was only willing to put up a front to a specific point.

He could handle everything so much better if he didn't have to uphold a polite mask too. And he had no delusions that everything would be fine.

Not everyone would like that he would stand at the Lord's side. Not everyone was happy with the change the discovery of his magic had brought. They wouldn't say it openly, but they would show it. And Harry wasn't one for buttering up other people.

Most of the people present in this hall had already formed their opinion of him, based on what they had heard beforehand and on the last few hours while observing him.

And it didn't matter to him. So, he would be himself and would have fun observing the reactions of the stuck-up wizarding high society to a supposed-Squib who was now in high regards by their Lord and had been raised by Severus Snape, a man well known for being blunt and snarky.

He could already hear the whispers. 'Really, what do they expect with this upbringing.' The thought made him grin.

Looking to the side, he watched with amusement how Lord Slytherin slowly ate the dessert, savouring and clearly enjoying every bite. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if he had licked the spoon and plate clean after he finished his portion.

Red eyes caught his and Harry didn't know what came over him, but he grinned at the man and gestured to his not even half eaten plate.

"You want more?" His grin widened at the expression he got for his question.

"If I wanted more I could simply order more from the kitchen," was the brisk answer.

"But isn't it a shame that this nice portion will be not eaten and will be thrown away?" Harry only barely kept his laughter in, but by the narrowing of the red eyes, the Lord had seen it.

"Tell, Mr Potter, what warrants this reaction."

Harry shrugged. "Never would have guessed you to have that much of a thing for chocolate."

Lord Slytherin bristled. "That, little Seer, is not simply chocolate." He gestured to the chocolate dessert. "That is dark chocolate crème brûlée with a raspberry gelée base made from one of the best chocolates and raspberries you can buy for money." He sounded like he was personally offended.

"Ah, that was the fruit flavour in there." Harry noted, a short glance to the Lord made Harry think that if they weren't in public and if he weren't… well _Lord Slytherin_ \- the man would have pouted about Harry not appreciating the quality of the dessert the same as he did.

Harry took a sip from his goblet filled with some red wine. He only had wine once before and hadn't really cared for more, but this one wasn't half bad: full-bodied, fruity with a hint of chocolate – or at least that's what he thought he tasted.

"I hope you like the wine. I chose it personally," Slytherin said next to him.

Harry nodded. "I don't know much about wine and normally don't drink, but this one tastes quite nice." He had to hide his grin behind the goblet when the man's eyes went wide in indignation.

"Nice?! This is a Poluzzi '86 Pinot Noir from one of the best wizarding vineyards across the world –" He clearly wanted to say more, but Severus sighed audibly.

"That would be my fault my Lord. I tried to shield Harry from most of the wizarding world and therefore he hasn't had that much contact with the finer parts of it. You know, I also prefer a cup of tea in front of the fireplace with a good potions book instead of the socialising events Lucius and Narcissa tried to invite me to," he explained.

The man looked from Severus to Harry. "It seems we have to rectify this. I am sure Lucius and Narcissa as well as their son would be more than willing to help."

Narcissa, who had taken notice of their conversation, smiled at Harry, then looked at the Lord. "We would be more than willing to help in this regard, my Lord."

Harry sighed, somehow the opportunity to have a little fun with cracking the controlled shell of the Lord had turned against him.

"I am not sure if I have time between going to school for the first time in my life, accompanying Lord Slytherin to whatever meetings there are, apprenticing under Severus and keeping an eye out for visions. I know enough not to be an embarrassment to anyone, but you wanted me to play Court Seer for my visions and my opinion, not for me to play the perfect little pureblood." His tone was light, but by Severus' grin, the slight shocked widening of Narcissa's eyes and the way Slytherin pressed his lips together, his message came across exactly as he wanted it.

Oh yes, he was the Lord's Seer now. But besides what they had agreed to and what he saw as practical and needed to learn and do, he wouldn't budge. It was still his life and he somehow had the feeling the Lord thought he could just boss him around. It seemed the little scene in his office a few days ago hadn't been enough to teach Slytherin that Harry wasn't one to let someone control him beyond what he was willing to give.

And it was fun to mess around with the Lord. Besides him being the powerful and merciless Dark Lord, Harry knew he was rather safe as long as he didn't overstep some boundaries. And he would have fun behaving however he wanted inside those safe borders.

"But, wouldn't you want to blend in with the aristocrats?" Narcissa asked him.

"Why should I? They know exactly who I am and based on this and my age I have some liberties in my behaviour. And why should I change for other people? Why should I bow to the expectations of people I don't give a damn about?"

"Harry," Severus admonished him, but Harry could see the approval in his guardian's eyes. The man also hadn't bent to satisfy the expectations from other people. Narcissa looked at him in shock.

"What? I only care for the opinion of a very small number of people whom I know don't care if I have manners befitting a pureblood heir or not, they take me as I am. All the other people who think they could place expectations on me, well – they can stuff it were the sun never shines."

Their conversation had drawn the attention of the whole table by now and the reaction to his statement greatly differed from person to person. Narcissa and Mrs Delacour looked completely shocked by his choice of words, while Draco and Ms Delacour tried to hide their snicker behind their napkins. Mr Delacour looked like he hadn't heard or couldn't care less about Harry's style of phrasing. Lucius regarded him with narrowed eyes, he definitely didn't approve of Harry's choice of words. His eyes flickered between him and Lord Slytherin and Harry was sure, would they have been in a more private setting, Harry would have been in for a scolding.

Severus looked unphased and stoic, but Harry knew his guardian well enough to see the mirth in his eyes. Generally, he didn't approve of swearing, but Harry knew Severus was as irritated and annoyed by the situation and in parts by Lord Slytherin, as Harry himself.

Lord Slytherin looked as unphased as Severus, but his red eyes bored into Harry's with an expression too complex for Harry to decipher. A movement of the lips made Harry narrow his eyes. Had that been an attempt to supress a grin?

"Now, Mr Potter, you should really refrain from using such language in an official setting. I understand the value of shock like any other man, but more than often politeness and refined manners help you to reach your goal faster." The tone was smooth and polite.

Harry shrugged, earning a slight glare out of those red eyes. "Maybe, but then nobody keeps me around for being polite." A soft snort from both Severus and Draco made Harry grin. "I don't want to impress them. Why should I waste my energy in trying to change their definitely already formed opinion of me? I don't like most people and I don't see the necessity in getting them to like me."

Now Lord Slytherin sent Severus a glare, clearly blaming him for Harry's point of view. The Potions Master ignored it in favour or drinking the tea he had ordered.

"If you wanted to have a gentle-spoken, refined pureblood _companion_ , you should have negotiated for that, instead you get a Court Seer who will not hide the truth he had seen even if it is uncomfortable. You wanted my honest opinion; you will get it." Harry continued matter-of-factly. "I could either be polite and refined, which would mean I don't say anything _at all_ , which would be fine by me, or you get blunt and honest." He stared at the Lord challengingly.

The only reaction he got for his glare was the raising of an eyebrow. Harry scowled at him and now the bastard smirked, actually smirked!

"I think in this case; I simply have to prepare myself for soothing the ruffled feathers you will surely leave behind," Slytherin stated calmly.

"Oh, there will be more than only a few ruffled feathers. Tell me, my Lord, if it is too much, then I will happily go back to the dungeon to my cauldrons." Harry barely prevented himself from saying the title mockingly, like he would have if they had been alone.

"And deprive the wizarding world of the unique opportunity to make your acquaintance? No, Mr Potter, I simply hope to appeal to you not to leave complete chaos and mayhem behind."

Harry made a show out of tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I will see what I can do."

A discreet cough brought Harry's attention back to the table, where all of the other occupants were observing their interaction more or less openly. He snorted at the many gobsmacked expressions – even Lucius looked mildly surprised despite all the pureblood Malfoy Lord countenance – and settled back into his chair.

So far, the Ball promised to be more fun than Harry had thought, and he was sure he had seen amusement in the Lord's red eyes, too.

The conversation at the table broke into several small ones for a while, before the second part of the event started. The guests started to get up from the seats and mingled. A string quartet and a pianist took their places near the dance floor.

Slytherin stood and bowed before Harry, who looked at him with narrowed eyes. He was fairly sure of what was coming next, which he had been dreading for the whole evening.

"Mr Potter, I hoped you would grant me to honour of dancing with me."

When the man looked up, Harry saw the amusement flicker in those red eyes. They both knew what Harry thought about dancing apparently. He knew he couldn't avoid it, so he rolled his eyes and stood.

"Certainly, _my Lord,"_ he said saccharinely, and took the offered hand. He hoped to get it done with as fast as possible.

The moment they took position on the dancefloor, he felt all those eyes on him again. But he didn't have the time to think about it, as the music started and Slytherin led him with practised ease. The height differences should have made it awkward, but Harry had to admit – grudgingly – that Slytherin was a marvellous dancer. Every time Harry missed a step or tried to move in the wrong direction, he was compensated and steered them fluently wherever he wanted.

It annoyed Harry to no end.

He huffed and a 'tsk' brought his attention to the man leading him across the floor.

"Don't look down, you will only stumble." Slytherin's voice was soft and Harry felt the hand holding him tighten. "I will not let us fall, so just trust me to lead, listen to the music and follow it."

Harry scowled at him, he hadn't even realized he had tried to look down.

"My, Mr Potter, it certainly looks like you are not enjoying your dance with me. You could at least smile." The amusement in those red eyes deepened.

"No, I certainly don't. And you are enjoying this way too much." Harry was whirled around till he came face to face with Slytherin again.

"Oh yes, I enjoy it. And why shouldn't I, especially when you are not fighting my lead." The hands pulled him a little closer.

"Not even I am such an asshole that I would try to embarrass you on the dancefloor in front of all those people. Therefore, I don't have much of a choice, don't you think so?" He was now so close that he could feel the body heat of the man and tried to pull back a little, without success.

"That is really courteous of you."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the grin he was receiving.

"Mr Potter, I really must say I like the change in your attitude."

Before he could answer, he was whirled around again and for a moment he only saw the expressions of the people watching them. Most of them looked stunned, some looked thoughtful and calculating, some looked angry and to his annoyance, some looked even horrified. One older woman in sparkling periwinkle dress robes was so pale that Harry feared she would faint every moment. Her eyes followed them over the dance floor, disgust clearly visible in her eyes.

Harry frowned, trying to decipher why someone he didn't know would be so clearly disgusted, but then Slytherin lead them in a series of sharp twist over the floor and Harry had problems catching his breath.

It took a few more moments till he remembered what the man had said.

"What do you mean exactly?"

The red eyes looked down at him, the amusement still present.

"I heard some stories about your temper and certain people commented on how, despite not being his son by blood, you resemble Severus in your character and attitude. Since I have the pleasure to interact with you personally, I only got to see it in a few short instances."

Harry shrugged. "I wasn't quite myself since Yule. But now that everything is out in the open, it feels… liberating."

The expression on Slytherin's face turned contemplative. "I certainly can understand that sentiment. The life you had built in the last years was suddenly turned over."

Harry nodded, but didn't comment further.

They danced silently for a few moments.

"This isn't as horrible as I feared it would be."

Slytherin smirked at Harry's statement. "I take that as a personal compliment to my dancing skills."

Harry grinned at him. "Or it could be because of the music."

"I take it that Miss Parkinson and Mr Malfoy Jr practiced with you?"

"Why do you think so?"

"The comment you made to Miss Parkinson after cutting your finger on the teacup."

"You caught that?" Harry looked sharply at the wizard, before he was spun around and lead into a series of steps where he was facing away from Slytherin.

"Not much happens without me knowing."

The grin on the wizard's face nearly made Harry to stumble over his own feet. It transformed the face of Lord Slytherin, he looked years younger, his face looked softer, not the sharp handsomeness he normally possessed. Harry knew that Slytherin was old, older than Severus, even if he looked nearly the same age. There were rumours how he preserved his youth, there were whispers of dark immortality rituals. Dumbledore had more than once asked Harry after one of his visions if he had seen Slytherin, if he had seen how to defeat him, or how he had made himself immortal.

He never had, not before arriving at Hogwarts. His theory was that his magic needed to at least know the magic of someone to get drawn into a vision, it didn't matter how many people would appear in it, Harry always recognized at least one person. And Hogwarts was immersed in Slytherin's magic, him being a descendent of one of the founders.

He concentrated on the wizard again. "I think the fact that a Blood Seer lived right under your nose for years speaks against it."

He got a scowl in return. "I knew of your existence."

Now Harry couldn't contain the grin. "But you didn't know what I was. I would say Severus and I; we are rather good in keeping secrets, even from _you_."

The red eyes narrowed. "At one point we have to sit down and talk about the visions you already had, Mr Potter."

"And what entitles you to that knowledge?" He knew already that he would have to tell Slytherin a few things from some of his visions, especially as some of them hadn't happened so far.

"As your L –"

"Don't say it," Harry interrupted him with a glare.

"Or what, you'll scream at me again? For all purpose I am your Lord."

"Yes, yes. I know what you want to say. Give me another reason, a better reason."

Slytherin looked at him with a strange expression for a few moments, then sighed and answered. "I think it would be good for you to tell someone, to share the burden of the knowledge. As I understand, you remember every detail of every vision you ever had, and that is a horrible burden for someone. And I'm sure that there are some incidents you saw which haven't happened so far and you can't do anything about it. But I can, especially _because_ I'm _Lord_ Slytherin."

He was silent for a moment again.

"I'm a rather good judge of character, and therefore I have the impression that you don't even tell Severus everything you see, mostly to spare him I think, because he is one of the few people you actually care about. You don't need to have these sentiments with me. And, not to sound arrogant, but I'm fairly intelligent, perhaps I would come to decipher some hidden meanings in your visions that you haven't."

Harry couldn't prevent the burst of laughter coming out of him and ignored the looks he got because of it. "No, that really didn't sound arrogant at all." He laughed again and somehow the smile he got made him think that perhaps it wasn't so bad to have to work with Slytherin.

* * *

He danced one or two more dances with Slytherin before the man wanted to make his rounds around the hall, introducing Harry personally to some people.

Harry didn't even try to remember their names, but he recognized some of them from different visions he had over the years and couldn't contain some snorts and grins as he remembered some of highly embarrassing stuff he knew about these people. It made dealing with their high and mighty attitudes easier.

At one point, Harry excused himself and found his way back to the table to drink something. He stopped dead when he saw who was sitting there. Miss Delacour was in a deep conversation with a man with long red hair. A particular shade of red he shared with their Professor for Arithmancy. He knew who this man was, he remembered playing with him and his siblings in the few weeks at the Rebel camp before he was locked into his room. He remembered seeing him in the summers outside with his brothers and sister while all Harry could do was watch.

He shook himself out of his stupor and approached the table. Miss Delacour was the first to look at him.

"A', Mr Potter, I 'ope, you 'ave an amusant evening." She smiled at him.

"Yes, it is rather… eventful." His gaze was drawn to the man beside her, who was staring at him.

"Mr Potter…"

"Mr Weasley." He knew his tone was brisk and on the edge of being rude, but it took him ages to get used to seeing Percy Weasley at Hogwarts, and even now he was still avoiding the Professor as often as he could, which had been easy so far. Seeing William Weasley here brought back memories Harry didn't want to remember.

The expression on the man's face was too complex for Harry to decipher.

Miss Delacour looked from one to another. "You know Mr Potter, Bill?"

Harry registered the familiarity with which the French witch was addressing the red head.

"Ah, I… yes, from long ago." Something flickered across the man's face. "Could you give us a moment?"

The blond looked again at both of them with a calculating look, then nodded, whispered something in Mr Weasley's ear and vacated the table.

"Mr Potter… _Harry…."_

Harry slammed his hands on the table and snarled. "You don't have the right to call me that. What do you want?"

The wizard looked shocked for a moment then sighed. "Nothing really. I just…"

Another sigh. "I had to come to terms with everything I thought I knew being turned upside down in the last days, and I just… I just wanted to ask… if you are what Lord Slytherin said you were… why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you here? Why didn't you help Dumbledore?"

Harry snarled again.

"No, no, I don't say that everything he did was right. I learned a lot since I have been here. But… it is hard, you know. It goes against everything I learned as a kid. Everything my family believed in. And I just want to understand. How did you know not to help Dumbledore? How did you know that his way wasn't… wasn't right?" It clearly cost the man to acknowledge that and it cut through the anger Harry felt at the man's audacity to ask.

Taking a deep breath, Harry sat down heavily and looked, actually looked at the wizard before him. He looked anguished and like he hadn't slept enough, but also determined.

"I didn't know, not at first. I was still a kid, longing to belong somewhere. I helped, in the beginning. Willingly had visions. But what I saw… let's say I saw some of the things Dumbledore did or ordered to be done which made me uncomfortable. And when he started to demand more and more, even beyond what I could give… when he forced me…"

A warm, big hand settled on top of his own which fisted the tablecloth in front of him.

"Thank you."

Harry looked up into compassionate blue eyes.

"Thank you for telling me this. I understand. You were just a kid, we all were. I just… I just have problems to understand why I didn't see it earlier. Why my Mum and Dad still believe in him, why I believed in him. But he was careful… careful not to let us see what was really happening in Britain. And what he did to you… you were just a kid." He paused. "We were never really told why you weren't allowed to play with us anymore. We were only told that you are fragile. I think not even most of the adults knew what was happening with you. As I got older, I heard whispers that you had some special magic, but we didn't know…"

Harry felt a burst of respect for the wizard. He had been a victim of Dumbledore's manipulation and indoctrinated since he was a kid, too. But that he could sit here and acknowledge it, and feel about it, even if he wasn't at fault, was worth of respect.

"How could you have? Dumbledore didn't want people to know. Only a select few. You are a victim of his manipulations just as much as I am. But I had the chance to see, my visions helped in that regard. You and your family, you never had the chance."

The anguish in the blue eyes nearly choked Harry.

"I wish I could help them." Weasley whispered.

Now it was Harry who laid his hand on top of the other's once and squeezed slightly.

"You never know what will happen." He certainly didn't tell him about the glimpses he had gotten in different visions, but perhaps it was something he could mention to Slytherin.

"Thank you. And please call me Bill." Then the redhead smiled. "But from January you have to call me Professor Weasley."

They talked a little longer about Bill's new position as the Professor for Warding, but completely avoided anything which was tied to their past or the rebels. Harry knew Bill was curious about his ability, as so many others, but he didn't ask. And Harry left him at the table the moment he saw Miss Delacour look at the table again, for the hundredth time since she left them.

As the night went on, Slytherin got Harry to dance with him again, and prevented anyone else from doing so, even Bellatrix when she made an attempt to grab him. Harry wasn't sure what he should think of it, he was thankful to a point, but then he unsure why the Lord was doing it and the strange looks some people sent their way when they thought they didn't see it confused him, especially when he saw the amusement in Slytherin's eyes because of them. And the smirks he got from Draco, Blaise and Pansy as Slytherin whirled him past them also weren't helpful at all. He certainly needed to have a word or two with his friends.

But at least the Ball hadn't been as horrible as he had feared.

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 15th of November 2019


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